accusative

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /əˈkjuzətɪv/ UK /əˈkjuːzətɪv/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the grammatical case marking the direct object of a verb

In Latin, the accusative case ends the noun differently from the nominative.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the grammatical case... objective

Opposites

nominative

Word family

Derived forms accusatival

Related forms accuse accusation accusatory

Etymology

From Latin (cāsus) accūsātīvus ('case of accusing'), a translation of Ancient Greek aitiātikḗ ('case of what is caused'), from accūsāre ('to accuse'), from ad- ('to') + causa ('cause').

accūsātīvus Latin causa Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# accusative

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈkjuzətɪv/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈkjuːzətɪv/

## Meanings
1. the grammatical case marking the direct object of a verb

## Examples
- In Latin, the accusative case ends the noun differently from the nominative.

## Synonyms
- objective

## Antonyms
- nominative

## Derived Forms
- accusatival

## Related Forms
- accuse
- accusation
- accusatory

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: accūsātīvus
- Root: causa

## Etymology
From Latin (cāsus) accūsātīvus ('case of accusing'), a translation of Ancient Greek aitiātikḗ ('case of what is caused'), from accūsāre ('to accuse'), from ad- ('to') + causa ('cause').

## AI Etymology
accusative comes from Latin (cāsus) accūsātīvus ('case of accusing'), a translation of Ancient Greek aitiātikḗ ('case of what is caused'), from accūsāre ('to accuse'), from ad- ('to') + causa ('cause'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "the grammatical case marking the direct object of a verb", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as accuse, accusation, accusatory and derivatives such as accusatival, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin accūsātīvus, Latin causa, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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