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Definition of "genitive" []

  • Of, relating to, or being the grammatical case expressing possession, measurement, or source. (adjective)
  • Of or relating to an affix or construction, such as a prepositional phrase, characteristic of the genitive case. (adjective)
  • The genitive case. (noun)
  • A word or form in the genitive case. (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 "genitive" in a sentence
  • "_Words denoting a part are often used with the genitive of the whole, known as the «partitive genitive»."
  • "The possessive genitive often stands in the predicate, especially after the forms of «sum», and is then called the _predicate genitive_."
  • "Words denoting a part are often used with the genitive of the whole, known as _the partitive genitive_."