dative

[ dey-tiv ]

adjective

1. (in certain inflected languages, as Latin, Greek, and German) noting a case having as a distinctive function indication of the indirect object of a verb or the object of certain prepositions.

noun

1. the dative case.
2. a word or form in that case, as Latin regi in regi haec dicite meaning “tell this to the king.”

dative

/ ˈdeɪtɪv; deɪˈtaɪvəl /

adjective

1. denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives used to express the indirect object, to identify the recipients, and for other purposes

noun

1. 1. the dative case
   2. a word or speech element in this case

Derived Forms

• datival, adjective
• ˈdatively, adverb

Other Words From

• da·ti·val [dey-, tahy, -v, uh, l], adjective
• dative·ly adverb
• nonda·tival adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dative¹

1400–50; late Middle English datif < Latin datīvus ( casus ) dative (case), equivalent to dat ( us ) given ( date ¹ ) + -īvus -ive; translation of Greek dotikḗ ( ptôsis )

Word History and Origins

Origin of dative¹

C15: from Latin datīvus, from dare to give; translation of Greek dotikos

Example Sentences

“No, they are. Look at the next sentence. We need a dative.”

From Literature

My teacher was a stickler who was worried about the decline of the dative case, and who discouraged me from using expressions I picked up on the street.

From New York Times

Prepositional dative: Jocasta handed the infant to her servant.

From Literature

It could never tell you if a pronoun took the dative or the accusative case.

From New York Times

Similarly, names unable to accommodate the endings required by the nominative, accusative, genitive and dative cases used in Icelandic are also routinely turned down.

From The Guardian