Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
percontative. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
percontative, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
percontative in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
percontative you have here. The definition of the word
percontative will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
percontative, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From the Latin percontativus.
Adjective
percontative (not comparable)
- (grammar, rare) That is, expressed in, or having the character of the grammatical mood (mode) of rhetorical questioning; percontatorial.
- 1845, Edward Smedley, Hugh James Rose, and Henry John Rose , Encyclopædia Metropolitana I: “Universal Grammar and Philology”, pages 50–51
- Some call these affections of the verb moods; others call them divisions, qualities, states, species, &c.; and as to the various appellations of each mood we have the personative and impersonative, the indicative, declarative, definitive, modus finiendi, modus fatendi, the rogative, interrogative, requisitive, percontative, assertive, enunciative, vocative, precative, deprecative, responsive, concessive, permissive, promissive, adhortative, optative, dubitative, imperative, mandative, conjunctive, subjunctive, adjunctive, potential, participial, infinitive, and probably many others.
- 1849, Herman Melville, Mardi II (1922 reprint), page 285
- ‘Perfect Dicibles are of various sorts: Interrogative; Percontative; Adjurative; Optative; Imprecative; Execrative; Substitutive; Compellative; Hypothetical; and, lastly, Dubious.’
- 1960, Raymond Queneau (+ unknown tr.), Zazie, page 128
- Destined for internal consumption, these three words nevertheless provoked the reply which you see here: who doesn’t? With an interrogation point, for the reply was percontative.