optative
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈɒptətɪv/, /ɒpˈteɪtɪv/
Adjective

optative (not comparable)

  1. Expressing a wish or a choice.
    • 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, Back Bay, 2006. page 64.
      ... then, in the optative retirement from hard science that building and opening a U.S.T.A-accredited and pedagogically experimental tennis academy apparently represented for him ...
  2. (grammar) Related or pertaining to the optative mood.
Noun

optative (plural optatives)

  1. (grammar) A mood of verbs found in some languages (e.g. Sanskrit, Old Prussian, Ancient Greek), used to express a wish. English does not have inflectional optative forms.
  2. (grammar) A verb or expression in the optative mood.
Translations


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