adjective

See also: adjectivé

English

Etymology

From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ɛk.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ək.tɪv/, /ˈæd͡ʒ.ə.tɪv/

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

Noun

adjective (plural adjectives)

2. (grammar) A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.

   The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 8:

     "They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"

3. (obsolete) A dependent; an accessory.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The History of the University of Cambridge, since the Conquest, [London]: [[…] Iohn Williams […]], →OCLC:

     it must be an adjective of dain

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:adjective

Hyponyms

• attributive adjective
• cardinal adjective
• demonstrative adjective
• descriptive adjective
• i-adjective
• indefinite adjective
• interrogative adjective
• limiting adjective
• na-adjective
• nominalized adjective
• noun adjunct
• numerical adjective
• ordinal adjective
• participial adjective
• possessional adjective
• possessive adjective
• postpositive adjective
• predicative adjective
• prepositive adjective
• privative adjective
• proper adjective
• quasi-adjective
• relational adjective
• relative adjective
• substantive adjective

 

Derived terms

• adjectival
• adjective clause
• adjective dye
• adjectivehood
• adjectiveless
• adjectively
• adjective patterns
• adjective phrase
• adjective pronoun
• adjective verb
• adjectivism
• adjectivitis
• adjectivity
• adjectivization
• common adjective
• deadjectival
• nonadjective
• overadjectived
• predicate adjective
• proadjective
• proper adjective
• unadjectived
• い-adjective
• な-adjective

 

Translations

(grammar) a word that modifies a noun or describes a noun’s referent

• Afrikaans: byvoeglike naamwoord (af)
• Albanian: mbiemër (sq), adjektiv
• Amharic: ቅጽል (am) (ḳəṣl)
• Arabic: نَعْت m (naʕt), صِفَة (ar) f (ṣifa)
• Aragonese: adchectivo (an) m
• Aramaic: גדשניא m (gedšanāya)
• Armenian: ածական (hy) (acakan)
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: axetivu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: sifət (az)
• Bashkir: сифат (sifat)
• Basque: adjektibo, izenondo
• Bavarian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: прыме́тнік m (prymjétnik)
• Bengali: বিশেষণ (bn) (biśeśon)
• Bikol Central: panladawan, panmidbid
• Bishnupriya Manipuri: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: anv-gwan (br) m, adanv (br) m
• Bulgarian: прилага́телно и́ме (bg) n (prilagátelno íme), прилага́телно (bg) n (prilagátelno)
• Burmese: နာမဝိသေသန (my) (nama.wi.sesa.na.)
• Buryat: тэмдэгэй нэрэ (temdegej nere)
• Catalan: adjectiu (ca) m
• Cebuano: please add this translation if you can
• Chechen: билгалдош (bilgaldoš)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 形容詞 / 形容词 (jing⁴ jung⁴ ci⁴)

  Hokkien: 形容詞 / 形容词 (hêng-iông-sû)

  Mandarin: 形容詞 / 形容词 (zh) (xíngróngcí)

• Chuvash: паллӑ ячӗ (pallă jač̬ĕ)
• Cornish: hanow gwan m
• Corsican: agettivu, aggettivu (co), aghjettivu (co)
• Crimean Tatar: sıfat
• Czech: přídavné jméno (cs) n
• Danish: adjektiv (da) n, egenskabsord n, tillægsord n
• Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: bijvoeglijk naamwoord (nl) n, adjectief (nl) n
• Erzya: раствал (rastval)
• Esperanto: a-vorto (eo), adjektivo (eo)
• Estonian: omadussõna, adjektiiv (et)
• Faroese: lýsingarorð (fo) n
• Finnish: adjektiivi (fi), laatusana (fi)
• French: nom adjectif (fr) m, adjectif (fr) m

  Old French: nons adjectyfs (Anglo-Norman; in plural)

• Friulian: agetîv
• Galician: adxectivo (gl) m
• Georgian: ზედსართავი სახელი (zedsartavi saxeli)
• German: Adjektiv (de) n, Eigenschaftswort (de) n, Beiwort (de) n, Wiewort (de) n, Beschreibungswort n
• Greek: επίθετο (el) n (epítheto)

  Ancient: ἐπίθετον n (epítheton), ἐπιθετικόν n (epithetikón)

• Greenlandic: pissusilerissut
• Hausa: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: haʻiʻano
• Hebrew: שֵׁם תּוֹאַר / שֵׁם תֹּאַר m (shem to'ar)
• Hindi: बिशेषण m (biśeṣaṇ), विशेषण (hi) m (viśeṣaṇ)
• Hungarian: melléknév (hu)
• Icelandic: lýsingarorð (is) n
• Ido: adjektivo (io)
• Indonesian: kata sifat (id), adjektiva (id), kata keadaan (id)
• Interlingua: adjectivo (ia)
• Irish: aidiacht (ga) f
• Italian: aggettivo (it) m
• Japanese: 形容詞 (ja) (けいようし, keiyōshi) (for "い" ending in Japanese, and translation for "adjective" in other languages), 形容動詞 (ja) (けいようどうし, keiyō-dōshi) (for "だ/な" ending)
• Javanese: tembung kahanan, tembung sipat
• Kannada: ವಿಶೇಷಣ (kn) (viśēṣaṇa)
• Kashmiri: باوُت (bāvut)
• Kashubian: przëdownik m
• Kazakh: сын есім (syn esım)
• Khmer: គុណនាម (km) (kunaʼniəm), វិសេសន (km) (viseesaʼnaʼ)
• Korean: 형용사(形容詞) (ko) (hyeong'yongsa)
• Kyrgyz: сын атооч (ky) (sın atooc)
• Lao: ຄຳຄຸນນາມ (kham khun nām)
• Latin: (nōmen) adiectīvum n
• Latvian: īpašības vārds (lv) m, adjektīvs (lv) m
• Limburgish: bievooglik naamwaord n
• Lingala: likonzámí
• Lithuanian: būdvardis (lt) m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Adjektiv

• Luganda: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: Adjektiv (lb) n
• Macedonian: придавка f (pridavka)
• Malay: kata sifat (ms), kata keadaan, adjektif (ms)
• Malayalam: നാമവിശേഷണം (ml) (nāmaviśēṣaṇaṁ)
• Maltese: aġġettiv (mt)
• Manx: marennym m
• Maori: kupuāhua
• Marathi: विशेषण n (viśeṣaṇa)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: тэмдэг нэр (mn) (temdeg ner), тэмдэг үг (temdeg üg) (China)

  Mongolian: ᠲᠡᠮᠳᠡᠭ
  ᠨᠡᠷ᠎ᠡ (temdeg ner-e), ᠲᠡᠮᠳᠡᠭ
  ᠦᠭᠡ (temdeg üge)

• Nepali: विशेषण (ne) (viśeṣaṇ)
• Norman: adjectif m (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: adjektiiva
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: adjektiv (no) n, eigenskapsord n, tilleggsord n

  Nynorsk: adjektiv (nn) n, eigenskapsord n, tilleggsord n

• Occitan: adjectiu (oc) m
• Odia: ବିଶେଷଣ (or) (biśeshaṇa)
• Old English: tōġeīecendlīċ
• Pali: visesana m
• Pannonian Rusyn: прикметнїк m (prikmetnjik)
• Pashto: صفت (ps) m (sefat)
• Persian:

  Dari: صِفَت (sifat)

  Iranian Persian: صِفَت (sefat)

• Plautdietsch: Ieejenschoftswuat n
• Polish: przymiotnik (pl) m inan, adiektyw m (uncommon)
• Portuguese: adjetivo (pt)
• Quechua: sutip rampaqnin
• Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
• Romani:

  Kalo Finnish Romani: adjektiivos

• Romanian: adjectiv (ro) n
• Romansch: adjectiv
• Russian: и́мя прилага́тельное (ru) n (ímja prilagátelʹnoje), прилага́тельное (ru) n (prilagátelʹnoje)
• Rwanda-Rundi: please add this translation if you can
• Sanskrit: विशेषण (sa) m (viśeṣaṇa)
• Scottish Gaelic: buadhair m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: (Ekavian) при́дев m, (Ijekavian) при́дјев m

  Roman: (Ekavian) prídev m, (Ijekavian) prídjev (sh) m

• Sicilian: aggittivi
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: prídavné meno (sk) n
• Slovene: pridevnik (sl) m
• Somali: please add this translation if you can
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: adjektiw m

  Upper Sorbian: adjektiw m

• Southern Altai: јарталгыш (ǰartalgïš)
• Spanish: adjetivo (es) m
• Sundanese: adjéktif
• Swahili: kivumishi, sifa (sw)
• Swedish: adjektiv (sv) n, egenskapsord (sv) n, tilläggsord n
• Tagalog: pang-uri (tl)
• Tajik: сифат (tg) (sifat)
• Tamil: உரிச்சொல் (ta) (uriccol)
• Tatar: сыйфат (tt) (sıyfat)
• Telugu: విశేషణము (te) (viśēṣaṇamu)
• Thai: คุณศัพท์ (th) (kun-ná-sàp), วิเศษณ์ (th) (wí-sèet), นามวิเศษณ์
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: sıfat (tr), önad (tr)
• Turkmen: sypat (tk)
• Ukrainian: прикме́тник (uk) m (prykmétnyk)
• Urdu: صِفَت (ur) f (sifat), بِشیشَن m (biśeśan)
• Uyghur: سۈپەت (süpet)
• Uzbek: sifat (uz)
• Vietnamese: tính từ (vi), hình dung từ
• Volapük: ladyek (vo)
• Võro: umahussyna
• Walloon: addjectif (wa)
• Welsh: ansoddair (cy) m
• West Frisian: eigenskipswurd (fy) n
• Wolof: please add this translation if you can
• Xhosa: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: אַדיעקטיוו (yi) m (adyektiv)
• Zazaki: sıfet (diq), vername (diq)
• Zulu: isiphawulo (zu) class 7/8

Adjective

adjective (not comparable)

1. (grammar) Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.

   Synonym: adjectival

2. (law) Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     The whole English law, substantive and adjective.

   Synonym: procedural

   Antonym: substantive

3. (chemistry, of a dye) Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.

   Antonym: substantive

4. (obsolete, reflected in the chemical sense, but extinct as a general sense) Incapable of independent function.
   • 1899, John Jay Chapman, Emerson and Other Essays, AMS Press (1969) (as reproduced in Project Gutenberg)

     In fact, God is of not so much importance in Himself, but as the end towards which man tends. That irreverent person who said that Browning uses “God” as a pigment made an accurate criticism of his theology. In Browning, God is adjective to man.

   Synonyms: dependent, derivative

   Coordinate terms: adjunct, adjunctive, adjutant

Translations

incapable of independent function

• Catalan: adjectiu (ca)
• Galician: adxectivo (gl) m
• Japanese: 非独立性の (hidokuritsusei no), 依存性の (izonsei no)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: rengdêr (ku) f

adjectival — see adjectival

methods of enforcement and rules of procedure

• Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: إِجْرَائِيّ (ar) (ʔijrāʔiyy)
• Dutch: formeel (nl)
• French: … de procédure (fr)
• German: formal (de)
• Hebrew: דיוני m (diyuní), נוהלי m (noholí)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} formai (hu), ^{(please verify)} eljárási (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingua: adjective (ia), adjectival
• Japanese: 手続き上の (てつづきじょうの, tetsudzukijō no)
• Polish: przymiotnikowy (pl)
• Portuguese: adjetivo (pt)
• Romanian: adjectiv (ro)
• Spanish: adjetivo (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• West Frisian: protokol c

of a dye that needs the use of a mordant

• Catalan: adjectiu (ca)

Verb

adjective (third-person singular simple present adjectives, present participle adjectiving, simple past and past participle adjectived)

1. (transitive) To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
   • 1805, John Horne Tooke, Epea Pteroenta: or The Diversions of Purley Part 2

     Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb, and to adjective also the mood, as it has to adjective time. It has […] adjectived all three.

   • 1832, William Hunter, An Anglo-Saxon grammar, and derivatives, page 46:

     In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages […]

2. (transitive, chiefly as a participle) To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.

Synonyms

• adjectify
• adjectivize

Translations

to make an adjective of — see also adjectivize

• Finnish: muuntaa adjektiiviksi
• French: adjectiver (fr), adjectiviser (fr), adjectivaliser (fr)
• Greek: επιθετοποιώ (epithetopoió)
• Italian: aggettivare (it)
• Polish: adiektywizować impf, zadiektywizować pf
• Portuguese: adjetivar (pt)
• Spanish: adjetivar (es)

See also

(converting into or using as another part of speech:)

• adjectivize/adjectivise, adjective, adjectify
• adverbialize/adverbialise, (rare) adverb, (rare) adverbify, adverbize
• nominalize/nominalise, substantivize/substantivise, noun, (rare) nounify, (very rare) substantive
• verbalize/verbalise, (colloquial) verb, verbify

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.dʒɛk.tiv/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Adjective

adjective

1. feminine singular of adjectif

Latin

Adjective

adjectīve

1. vocative masculine singular of adjectīvus

Portuguese

Verb

adjective

1. inflection of adjectivar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ad.ʒekˈti.ve]

Noun

adjective

1. plural of adjectiv

Scots

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

From Latin (nomen) adjectivum.

Noun

adjective (plural adjectives)

1. (grammar) adjective