optative

[ op-tuh-tiv ]

adjective

1. designating or pertaining to a verb mood, as in Greek, that has among its functions the expression of a wish, as Greek íoimen “may we go, we wish we might go.”

noun

1. the optative mood.
2. a verb in the optative mood.

optative

/ ˈɒptətɪv /

adjective

1. indicating or expressing choice, preference, or wish
2. grammar denoting a mood of verbs in Greek, Sanskrit, etc, expressing a wish

noun

1. grammar
   1. the optative mood
   2. a verb in this mood

Other Words From

• opta·tive·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of optative¹

1520–30; < Late Latin optātīvus, equivalent to Latin optāt ( us ) (past participle of optāre; opt, -ate ¹ ) + -īvus -ive

Word History and Origins

Origin of optative¹

C16: via French optatif, from Late Latin optātīvus, from Latin optāre to desire

Example Sentences

One could even say the optative is the source of the indicative nature of normative histories.

From New York Times

In the advanced seminar at Kanatsiohareke, Mina Beauvais, whose Mohawk name is Tewateronhiakhwa, was teaching students the optative, an arcane mood, akin to the subjunctive, that exists in Kurdish, Albanian, Navajo, Sanskrit, and ancient Greek.

From The New Yorker

There are several moods, most not native in English – the desiderative, the optative, and the propositive – which may offer a solution.

From The Guardian

The trend of sequence is from the primary tenses of the indicative through subjunctive and optative in that order to the past tenses of the indicative.

From Project Gutenberg

Throughout the Greek classical period the moods are maintained, but in the period of the κοινή the optative occurs less and less and finally disappears.

From Project Gutenberg