gerundive
Americannoun
-
(in Latin) a verbal adjective similar to the gerund in form and noting the obligation, necessity, or worthiness of the action to be done, as legendus in Liber legendus est, “The book is worth reading.”
adjective
-
resembling a gerund.
noun
-
(in Latin grammar) an adjective formed from a verb, expressing the desirability of the activity denoted by the verb
adjective
-
of or relating to the gerund or gerundive
Other Word Forms
- gerundival adjective
- gerundively adverb
- nongerundive adjective
- nongerundively adverb
Etymology
Origin of gerundive
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English word from Late Latin word gerundīvus. See gerund, -ive
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dink Stover, later to win fame at Yale, carried his whole Latin class by signalling with a pair of mobile ears whenever The Roman, their teacher, asked his favorite question, "Gerund or gerundive?"
From Time Magazine Archive
All editors, misled no doubt by 37, mispunctuate this passage, placing a comma before quorum instead of after: this destroys the gerundive quorum ... appellandorum, leaving the pentameter without a construction.
From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear
Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the notably prosaic use of the defining gerundive.
From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear
"Top of page, third word, Channing—gerund or gerundive?" said The Roman.
From The Varmint by Gruger, Frederic Rodrigo
"Well, if you have, how are you going to spot the gerund and the gerundive?"
From The Varmint by Gruger, Frederic Rodrigo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.