copulative

American  

[kop-yuh-ley-tiv, -luh-tiv] / ˈkɒp yəˌleɪ tɪv, -lə tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to unite or couple.

2. Grammar.

   1. involving or consisting of connected words or clauses.

      a copulative sentence.

   2. pertaining to or serving as a copula; serving to connect subject and complement.

      a copulative verb.

   3. serving to connect nouns, noun phrases, verbs, clauses, etc..

      a copulative conjunction.

   4. of the dvandva type.

      Bittersweet is a copulative compound.

3. of or relating to sexual intercourse.

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noun

1. Grammar. a copulative word.

copulative British  

/ ˈkɒpjʊlətɪv /

adjective

1. serving to join or unite

2. of or characteristic of copulation

3. grammar (of a verb) having the nature of a copula

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Other Word Forms

• copulatively adverb

Etymology

Origin of copulative

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English copulatif, from Middle French copulatif, copulative, from Late Latin cōpulātīvus; copulate, -ive

Example Sentences

The copulative or enumerative conjunctions, have only two degrees.

From Delsarte System of Oratory by Various

Other conjunctions having a copulative use are also, besides, likewise, moreover, and too; and the correlative conjunctions, both … and, not only … but also, etc.

From Composition-Rhetoric by Brooks, Stratton D.

In the English Bible this particle is usually rendered by the copulative conjunction and; in the Septuagint, and in Josephus, however, it sometimes has the sense of but.

From The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences by Hitchcock, Edward

Two substantives with a copulative being here, as is the frequent practice of our author, used for an adjective and substantive: an adjective sense is given to a substantive.

From Hamlet by Kean, Charles John

C. L. N. A. I. J. Bl. says the omission of the copulative wa in line 4 of the original is characteristic of Khayyam.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar