Theadjective is derived from LateMiddle Englishgenetif(“pertaining to the genitive case; pertaining to the generation of offspring”)[1] +English-ive(suffix meaning ‘relating or belonging to’ forming adjectives).Genetif is fromAnglo-Normangenetif,genitif, andMiddle Frenchgenetif,genitif(“pertaining to the generation of offspring, procreative; (grammar) pertaining to the genitive case”) (modernFrenchgénitif), and from theiretymonLatingenetīvus(“pertaining to the generation of offspring; (grammar) pertaining to the genitive case”) (whenceLate Latingenitivus), fromgenitus(“begotten, engendered; produced”) +-īvus(suffix meaning ‘doing’ or ‘related to doing’ forming adjectives).[2]Genitus is theperfectpassiveparticiple ofgignō(“to beget, give birth to; to produce, yield”), ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-(“to beget, give birth; to produce”).
Latingenetīvuscāsus (orcāsusgenetīvus,cāsusgenitīvus(literally“grammatical case pertaining to birth or origin”)), was used to translateKoine Greekγενῐκήπτῶσις(genĭkḗ ptôsis, literally“inflection expressing a genus or kind”) which actually means “generic case”, though it refers to what is now called the genitive case.[2]
Thenoun is derived from LateMiddle Englishgenetif(“genitive case”),[1] from the adjective (see above). CompareMiddle Frenchgenitif (modernFrenchgénitif) andLatingenetīvus (short forgenetīvuscāsus(“genitive case”)).[2]
genitive (notcomparable)
- (archaic) Of or pertaining to thegeneration ofoffspring;generative,procreative,reproductive.
- Synonym:progenitive
- (grammar)
- Of agrammatical case: in aninflectedlanguage (such asGreek orLatin),expressing that athingdenoted by aword isrelated to a thing denoted by another word as itsorigin orpossessor; and in anuninflected language (such asEnglish), expressing origin orpossession;possessive.
- Coordinate terms:comitative,proprietive
dependentgenitive
independentgenitive
The student who had taken a German exam realised his error afterwards. He had used the dative case instead of thegenitive case to show possession.
1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e.,William Turner], “Of the Herbe Called in Latin Irio”, inThe Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman,→OCLC,folio 23, recto:[T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it[the iris] Irios in thegenetiue caſe.
1669,J[ohn] M[ilton], “Of Nouns”, inAccedence Commenc’t Grammar, […], to Attain the Latin Tongue; […], London: […] S[amuel] Simmons, […],→OCLC,page 5:Nouns Subſtantive have five Declenſions or forms of ending thir Caſes, chiefly diſtinguiſht by the different ending of thirGenitive Singular.[…] The firſt[declension] is vvhen theGenitive and Dative ſingular end inæ, &c.,[…]
2024,Geoffrey K. Pullum,The Truth About English Grammar, Polity Press,→ISBN, pages38-39:Two kinds of genitive: All nouns have a genitive form, but pronouns have two of them. Thedependentgenitive form is used before a head noun, and theindependentgenitive form (usually distinct) is used on its own but with a genitive-related meaning.[…]my painting, wheremy is the dependentgenitive ofI, butThat painting is mine, wheremine is the independentgenitive[…]
2024 October 7,Philip Oltermann, “Germans decry influence of English as ‘idiot’s apostrophe’ gets official approval”, inKatharine Viner, editor,The Guardian[1], London:Guardian News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on9 October 2024:Establishments that feature their owners' names, with signs like "Rosi's Bar" or "Kati's Kiosk" are a common sight around German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate thegenitive case or possession.
- Of, pertaining to, or used in thegenitive case.
of or pertaining to the generation of offspring
—seereproductiveof a grammatical case: expressing that a thing denoted by a word is related to a thing denoted by another word as its origin or possessor, or expressing origin or possession; of, pertaining to, or used in the genitive case
- Afrikaans:genitief (af)
- Albanian:gjinore (sq)
- Arabic:إِضَافِيّ(ʔiḍāfiyy),جَرِّيّ(jarriyy),خَفْضِيّ(ḵafḍiyy)
- Armenian:սեռական (hy)(seṙakan)
- Asturian:xenitivu
- Azerbaijani:yiyəlik (az)
- Basque:genitibo
- Belarusian:ро́дны(ródny)
- Bulgarian:роди́телен(rodítelen)
- Catalan:genitiu (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin:所有的(suǒyǒu de)
- Czech:genitivní
- Danish:genitiv (da),genitivisk,ejefalds-
- Dutch:genitief (nl) m
- Estonian:omastav (et)
- Finnish:genetiivi- (fi),genetiivinen
- French:génitif (fr) m,génitive (fr) f
- Galician:xenitivo m
- Georgian:გენიტივი(geniṭivi),ნათესაობითი (ka)(natesaobiti)
- German:genitivisch (de),genetivisch m(rare)
- Greek:γενική (el)(genikí)
- Ancient:γενική(genikḗ)
- Hebrew:יחס הקניין / יַחַס הַקִּנְיָן m(yákhas ha-kinyán)
- Hungarian:birtokos (hu)
- Indonesian:genitif (id)
- Icelandic:eignarfalls- (is)(in compounds)
- Irish:ginideach (ga)
- Italian:genitivo (it)
- Japanese:生格 (ja)(せいかく, seikaku)(for Slavic),属格 (ja)(ぞっかく, zokkaku)
- Kazakh:ілік(ılık)
- Kyrgyz:илик (ky)(ilik)
- Latin:genetīvus (la)
- Latvian:ģenitīvs (lv)
- Malay:genitif
- Mirandese:genitibo
- Old English:ġeāgniġendlīċ,ġestrīenendlīċ
- Papiamentu:genitivo
- Persian:اضافه (fa)(ezâfe)
- Polish:dopełniacz (pl)
- Portuguese:genitivo (pt)
- Romanian:genitiv (ro)
- Russian:роди́тельный (ru)(rodítelʹnyj)
- Scottish Gaelic:ginideach
- Slovak:genitívny
- Slovene:rodilniški
- Spanish:genitivo (es)
- Swedish:genitiv (sv)
- Turkish:tamlayan (tr)
- Ukrainian:родо́ви́й (uk)(rodóvýj)
- Venetian:genitivo
- Welsh:genidol
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genitive (countable anduncountable,pluralgenitives)(grammar)
- (countable, uncountable)Ellipsis ofgenitive case(“agrammatical case used to express arelationship oforigin orpossession”).
1669,J[ohn] M[ilton], “Of Cases”, inAccedence Commenc’t Grammar, […], to Attain the Latin Tongue; […], London: […] S[amuel] Simmons, […],→OCLC,page 3:Nounes, Pronounes, and Participles are declin'd vvith ſix Endings, vvhich are called Caſes, both in the Singular and Plural Number. The Nominative,Genitive, Dative, Accuſative, Vocative, and Ablative.[…] TheGenitive is Engliſht vvith this Signof, asLibri of a Book.
- (countable) Awordinflected in the genitive case, and which thusindicates origin or possession.
1669,J[ohn] M[ilton], “Of Nouns”, inAccedence Commenc’t Grammar, […], to Attain the Latin Tongue; […], London: […] S[amuel] Simmons, […],→OCLC,page 5:This one vvordfamilia joyn'd vvithpater,mater,filius, orfilia, endeth theGenitive inas, aspater familias, but ſomtimesfamiliæ.
1894,Adolf Erman, “Nouns”, inJames Henry Breasted, transl.,Egyptian Grammar […], London; Edinburgh:Williams and Norgate, […],→OCLC,§ 122*,page49:This older kind ofgenetive[i.e., the direct genetive] is apparently expressed only by the position of the two substantives, in which the governing word stands before the governed:pr i̓mn "House of Amon."
word inflected in the genitive case
- ↑1.01.1“ǧenetī̆f,adj. andn.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- ↑2.02.12.2“genitive,adj. andn.”, inOED Online
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2024;“genitive,adj. andn.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
genitīve
- vocativemasculinesingular ofgenitīvus
genitive
- plural ofgenitiv
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, September 2024;“genitive,adj. andn.”, inLexico,Dictionary.com;Oxford University Press,2019–2022.
genitive case on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
