Etymology From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.
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Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A word that modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes a noun’s referent.
The words “big” and “heavy” are English adjectives.
"They'll have to invent new adjectives when I come back. You wait!"1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 8:
2 more examples
"We have fallen into the culture of adjectives and adverbs, and we have forgotten the strength of nouns," he said.2019 September 24, Jessie Yeung, quoting Pope Francis, “Pope Francis loves nouns but is ‘allergic’ to adjectives”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2019:
The Brazilian football legend, who passed away in December, has been added to the Portuguese edition of the Michaelis dictionary as an adjective to describe someone or something “out of the ordinary.”2023 April 27, George Ramsay, “Pelé added to Portuguese dictionary as an adjective for ‘out of the ordinary’”, in CNN, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2024:
it must be an adjective of dain1655, Thomas Fuller, The History of the University of Cambridge, since the Conquest, [London]: … Iohn Williams […]], →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.
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Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Adjectival; pertaining to or functioning as an adjective.
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Law Applying to methods of enforcement and rules of procedure.
The whole English law, substantive and adjective.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
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Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciencesOf a dye Needing the use of a mordant to be made fast to that which is being dyed.
Reflected in the chemical sense; but extinct as a general sense; reflected in the chemical sense; but extinct as a general sense
In fact, God is of not so much importance in Himself, but as the end towards which man tends. That irreverent person who said that Browning uses “God” as a pigment made an accurate criticism of his theology. In Browning, God is adjective to man.1899, John Jay Chapman, Emerson and Other Essays, AMS Press (1969) (as reproduced in Project Gutenberg)
adjective
verb
Etymology From Middle English adjectif, adjective, from Old French adjectif, from Latin adiectivus, from adiciō + -īvus, from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + iaciō (“throw”). The Latin word adiectivus in turn was a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιθετικόν (epithetikón, “added”), a derivative of the compound verb ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi), from which also comes epithet.
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To make an adjective of; to form or convert into an adjective.
Language has as much occasion to adjective the distinct signification of the verb, and to adjective also the mood, as it has to adjective time. It has […] adjectived all three.1805, John Horne Tooke, Epea Pteroenta: or The Diversions of Purley Part 2
In English, instead of adjectiving our own substantives, we have borrowed, in immense numbers, adjectived signs from other languages[…]1832, William Hunter, An Anglo-Saxon grammar, and derivatives, page 46:
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As a participle To characterize with an adjective; to describe by using an adjective.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:adjective.