entry
adjective
/ˈædʒəktɪv/Word that modifies or describes a noun
From Latin ad- (to) + Latin iacere (to throw).
from Latin adiectivus
from Latin adiectivus
from Old French adjectif (14c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Old French adjectif (14c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin adiectivus
from Latin adiectivus
from Old French adjectif (14c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Old French adjectif (14c.)
+1 more sourceImagine a Latin grammarian pointing at a noun and saying, in effect, “Here is the word that gets added onto it.” That idea became Latin adiectivus, from adiciō, “to add,” built around the vivid image of throwing or placing something toward something else. The terminology was also modeled on Ancient Greek grammatical language, especially epithetikón, the ancestor of “epithet”—so an adjective began life as a linguistic accessory, not as a glamorous descriptive word. English picked it up through Old French adjectif and Middle English in the late fourteenth century. Then Kipling gave it a bizarre second life: in Soldiers Three (1888), “the Adjective” served as a coy British euphemism for the taboo word bloody. Remember the image: an adjective is a little grammatical object thrown onto a noun, hitching a ride and changing what we see.
The Story
Imagine a Latin grammarian pointing at a noun and saying, in effect, “Here is the word that gets added onto it.” That idea became Latin adiectivus, from adiciō, “to add,” built around the vivid image of throwing or placing something toward something else. The terminology was also modeled on Ancient Greek grammatical language, especially epithetikón, the ancestor of “epithet”—so an adjective began life as a linguistic accessory, not as a glamorous descriptive word. English picked it up through Old French adjectif and Middle English in the late fourteenth century. Then Kipling gave it a bizarre second life: in Soldiers Three (1888), “the Adjective” served as a coy British euphemism for the taboo word bloody. Remember the image: an adjective is a little grammatical object thrown onto a noun, hitching a ride and changing what we see.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ad-'·to, toward, at; addition
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'iacere'·to throw, cast, place
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '-ivus'·relating to; characterized by
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia