ablative

Meaning

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement.
2. (archaic, not-comparable) Pertaining to taking away or removing.
3. (not-comparable) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. .
4. (not-comparable) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ.
5. (not-comparable) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier.

Noun

1. The ablative case.
2. An ablative material.

Synonyms

ablative case

instrumental

Quechua

ablation

balletic

by the river

debonair

debonaire

debonnaire

digestible

fluid

fusible

graceful

liquid

locative

meltable

melting

on the table

smooth

suave

in the house

Dyirbal

uncrannied

Finnish

🇫🇮

Translations

ablatif

ablativo

ablativo

ablativo

Ablativ

ablatief

ablativus

ablatiu

αφαιρετική

casus ablativus

instrumental

αφαιρετικός

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈæb.lə.tɪv/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: ablative

In summary

From Middle English ablative, ablatife, ablatyf, ablatif, from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”), from ablātus (“taken away”), from auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense originates from ablate + -ive.