vocative
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English
Etymology
From Late Middle English , borrowed from Middle French vocatif, from Latin vocātīvus (“for calling”); a calque of Ancient Greek κλητῐκή (klētikḗ, “for calling; vocative case”) – from vocāre (“to call”), from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-, o-grade of *wekʷ- (“give vocal utterance, speak”). See Latin vōx.
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: väk'ətĭv, vōk'ətĭv, IPA(key): /ˈvɑkətɪv/, /ˈvoʊkətɪv/
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: vŏk'ətĭv, IPA(key): /ˈvɒkətɪv/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
vocative (comparative more vocative, superlative most vocative)
- Of or pertaining to calling; used in calling or vocation.
- (grammar) Used in address; appellative (said of that case or form of the noun, pronoun, or adjective, in which a person or thing is addressed). For example "Domine, O Lord"
Related terms
Translations
of or pertaining to calling
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grammar: used in address
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
vocative (plural vocatives)
- (grammar) The vocative case
- (grammar) A word in the vocative case
- (rare) Something said to (or as though to) a particular person or thing; an entreaty, an invocation.
- 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter L”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: , volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: S Richardson; , →OCLC:
- [T]he two latter will hardly come neither, if they think it will be to hear your whining vocatives.
Translations
grammatical case — see vocative case
See also
Italian
Adjective
vocative
Latin
Adjective
vocātīve
References
- “vocative”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- vocative in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Romanian
Noun
vocative n pl