culminative

[ kuhl-muh-ney-tiv ]

adjective

, Linguistics.

1. (of stress or tone accent) serving to indicate the number of independent words or the important points in an utterance by assigning prominence to one syllable in each word or close-knit group of words.

Word History and Origins

Origin of culminative¹

culminate + -ive

Example Sentences

This culminative movement, begun in the decline of the nineteenth century, may well be destined to mark the twentieth century as the great era of social readjustment.

From Project Gutenberg

A culminative interrogation point to add to his collection was her next lead.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the consensus of opinion that it would be madness to attempt arrest during the culminative ceremonies.

From Project Gutenberg

Therefore the application of the culminative effect of interest accumulations is much dependent upon the sort of mine under consideration.

From Project Gutenberg

After our review of the various schools that have been created for the deaf in the United States, we come to what may be regarded as the culminative feature in the provision for their instruction—an institution for their higher education.

From Project Gutenberg