Advertisement

Origin and history of appositive

appositive(adj.)

1690s, "applicable," from Latin apposit-, past-participle stem of apponere "set near, set before; apply, give in addition; appoint, designate" (see apposite) + -ive. As a noun in grammar, "words in apposition," from 1847.

also from 1690s

Entries linking to appositive

apposite(adj.)

1620s, "well-put or applied, appropriate," from Latin appositus, adpositus "contiguous, neighboring;" figuratively "fit, proper, suitable," past participle of apponere "lay beside, set near," especially "serve, set before," also "put upon, apply," from ad "to, toward" (see ad-) + ponere "to place" (past participle positus; see position (n.)).

-ive

word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, meaning "pertaining to, tending to; doing, serving to do," in some cases from Old French -if, but usually directly from Latin adjectival suffix -ivus (source also of Italian and Spanish -ivo). In some words borrowed from French at an early date it has been reduced to -y (as in hasty, tardy).

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    dispense
    mid-14c., dispensen, "to dispose of, deal or divide out," from Old French dispenser "give out" (13c.), from Latin dispensare "disburse, administer, distribute (by weight)," frequentative of dispendere "pay out," from dis- "out" (see dis-) + pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh;
    analogy
    early 15c., "correspondence, proportion," from Old French analogie or directly from Latin analogia, from Greek analogia "proportion," from ana "upon, according to" (see ana-) + logos "ratio," also "word, speech, reckoning" (from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with deriv
    shock
    1560s, "violent encounter of armed forces or a pair of warriors," a military term, from French choc "violent attack," from Old French choquer "strike against," probably from Frankish, from a Proto-Germanic imitative base (compare Middle Dutch schokken "to push, jolt," Old High Ge
    Saturn
    Old English Sætern, name of the Roman god, also, in astronomy, the name of the most remote planet (then known); from Latin Saturnus, originally a name of an Italic god of agriculture, possibly from Etruscan. Derivation from Latin serere (past participle satus) "to sow" is said to
    stigma
    1590s (earlier stigme, c. 1400), "mark made on skin by burning with a hot iron," from Latin stigma (plural stigmata), from Greek stigma (genitive stigmatos) "mark of a pointed instrument, puncture, tattoo-mark, brand," which is related to stizein "to mark, tattoo" (from PIE root
    Goth
    Old English Gota (plural Gotan) "a member of the Germanic people who lived in Eastern Europe c.100 C.E.," from Late Latin Gothus (plural Gothi), from Greek Gothos (plural Gothoi), from Gothic *Gutos, which is preserved in Gothic gutþiuda "Gothic people," the first element cognate
    counterfeit
    c. 1300, countrefeten, "pretend to be," from countrefet (adj.), Old French contrefait "imitated" (Modern French contrefait), past participle of contrefaire "imitate," from contre- "against" (see contra-) + faire "to make, to do" (from Latin facere "to make, do," from PIE root *dh
    octopus
    1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Latinized form of Greek oktōpous, literally "eight-foot," from oktō "eight" (see eight) + pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- "foot." The more usual Greek word seems to have been polypous (also pōlyps), from polys "
    challenge
    early 14c., chalenge, "something one can be accused of, a fault, blemish;" mid-14c., "false accusation, malicious charge; accusation of wrong-doing," also "act of laying claim" (to something), from Anglo-French chalenge, Old French chalonge "calumny, slander; demand, opposition,"
    tantalize
    "to tease or torment by presenting something desirable to the view and frustrating expectation by keeping it out of reach," 1590s, with -ize + Latin Tantalus, from Greek Tantalos, name of a mythical king of Phrygia in Asia Minor. Son of Zeus, father of Pelops and Niobe, famous fo

    Share appositive

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near appositive
    Advertisement