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Definition of "gerundive" [ge•run•dive]

  • A verbal adjective in Latin that in the nominative case expresses the notion of fitness or obligation and in other cases functions as a future passive participle. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "gerundive" in a sentence
  • "The gerundive is a verbal adjective and must be used instead of gerund + object, excepting in the genitive and in the ablative without a preposition."
  • "The gerundive is the name given to the future passive participle (§374. d) when the participle approaches the meaning of a verbal noun and is translated like a gerund."
  • "A substantive in the ablative absolute for no known reason very seldom denotes a person or thing elsewhere mentioned in the same clause, but the conditional applies through the gerundive which is defined as a conditional anyway."