adjective

noun
/ˈæd͡ʒ.ɪk.tɪv/

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.

  1. derived from adiectivus
  2. derived from adjectif
  3. inherited from adjectif

Definitions

  1. A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.

    • The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.
    • "They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"
    • "We have fallen into the culture of adjectives and adverbs, and we have forgotten the strength of nouns," he said.
  2. A dependent

    A dependent; an accessory.

    • it must be an adjective of dain
  3. Adjectival

    Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.

  4. + 5 more definitions
    1. Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.

      • The whole English law, substantive and adjective.
    2. Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.

    3. Incapable of independent function.

    4. To make an adjective of

      To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.

      • 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.
      • In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages[…]
    5. To characterize with an adjective

      To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.

      • For quotations using this term, see Citations:adjective.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at adjective. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01adjective02noun03transformation04space05bounded06least07adjectives

A definitional loop anchored at adjective. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at adjective

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA