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; see copulate, -ive

Example Sentences

These should be followed by the copulative verb; after which should come the intransitive verb and its nominative in the different tenses, and the transitive with its object in the same way.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various

Among the incomplete intransitive verbs the most conspicuous are the copula and the copulative verbs.

From Composition-Rhetoric by Brooks, Stratton D.

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

The copulative or enumerative conjunctions, have only two degrees.

From Delsarte System of Oratory by Various

As is sometimes a relative pronoun, sometimes a conjunctive adverb, and sometimes a copulative conjunction.

From The Grammar of English Grammars by Brown, Goold