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ablative

Pronunciation: /ˈablətɪv/

Translate ablative | into Italian
Definition of ablative

adjective

  • 1 Grammar denoting a case (especially in Latin) of nouns and pronouns and words in grammatical agreement with them indicating an agent, instrument, or source, expressed by ‘by’, ‘with’, or ‘from’ in English.
  • 2(of surgical treatment) involving ablation: all nine patients were treated by ablative surgery
  • 3relating to or subject to ablation through melting or evaporation:the spacecraft’s ablative heat shield

noun

Grammar
  • a word in the ablative case.
  • (the ablative) the ablative case.

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French ablative (feminine of ablatif), Latin ablativus, from ablat- 'taken away' (see ablation)

ablative in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of ablative in the US English dictionary

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