copulative, a. and n.
(ˈkɒpjuːlətɪv, -eɪtɪv)
[a. F. copulatif, -ive (Oresme, 14th c.), ad. L. cōpulātīv-us of or pertaining to coupling, connective, f. ppl. stem of cōpulāre: see above and -ive.]
A. adj.
1. a. Serving to couple or connect; spec. in Gram. applied to conjunctions which connect (constructionally) words or clauses which are also connected in sense; opposed to adversative or disjunctive. Also spec. copulative compound. [So already in Martianus Capella and other L. grammarians.]
| 1388 Wyclif Prol. 57 A participle of a present tens..mai be resoluid into a verbe of the same tens, and a coniunccioun copulatif. 1520 Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 6 b, Two nominatyue cases..with a coniuncyon copulatyue comynge bytwene. a 1653 Gouge Comm. Heb. i. 5 These copulative particles, and, again. 1824 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 189 Conjunctions are principally divided into two sorts, the copulative and disjunctive. 1888 Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds (ed. 2) 75 Such compounds as hásta-krta ‘hand-made’ in Sk,..are..nothing else but fragments of pre-inflectional sentences, as is shown still more clearly in the Sk copulative compounds, such as aho⁓rātrám ‘a day and night’. 1933 Bloomfield Language xiv. 235 One can therefore distinguish between copulative compounds (Sanskrit dvandva) and determinative (attributive or subordinative) compounds. Ibid., The Hindu grammarians distinguished among copulative compounds a special sub-group of repetitive (amredita) compounds, with identical members, as in choo-choo, bye-bye, goody-goody. 1951 A. G. Hatcher (title) Modern English word-formation and neo-Latin: a study of the origins of..copulative compounds. |
b. Involving such connexion of words or clauses.
| 1586 Cogan Haven Health ccxliii. (1612) 262 These kind of copulative sentences. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 223 A Copulatiue Axiome..is that, the coniunction whereof, is Copulatiue. 1725 Watts Logic ii. ii. §6 Copulative propositions, are those which have more subjects or predicates connected by affirmative or negative conjunctions; as, riches and honour are temptations to pride. 1884 tr. Lotze's Logic 74 The copulative judgment (‘S is both p and q and r’). |
c. Logic and Gram. Connecting the subject and predicate, or subject and predicative complement; forming the copula.
| 1654 Vilvain Epit. Ess. vii. 42 With a Verb copulativ in midst of al. 1871 Public Sch. Lat. Gram. §110 The Verbs which so couple a Subject and Complement are called Copulative Verbs. |
† 2. Characterized by ‘copulation’ or connexion; connective; forming a connected whole. Obs.
| 1648 Sanderson Serm. (1653) 20 True obedience is copulative. 1660 Swinnock Door Salv. Op. 177 The commands of the law are all copulative, they hang together like a carcanet of Jewels. 1676 W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. xii. (1848) 425 The command in their Proclamation was copulative, to go to their meetings, and to attend and concur, and the going was only commanded in order to their attending and concurrence. |
3. Zool. and Anat. Relating to or serving for the reproductive union of the sexes; copulatory.
| 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 147 At the extremity of the vagina is situated the copulative sac. 1859 Todd Cycl. Anat. V. 545/2 The reproductive organs..are commonly subdivided into the formative and copulative. |
B. n.
1. Gram. a. A copulative conjunction or particle.
| 1530 Palsgr. 148 Of conjunctions some be copulatives. 1609 W. Sclater Threef. Preservative (1610) B iv a, Copulatiues somtimes haue force of conditionals. 1695 Bp. Patrick Comm. Gen. 156 A great number of learned men expound the particle Vau, as a Causal, not as a Copulative in this place. 1751 Harris Hermes (1841) 187 The principal copulative in English is and. 1845 Stoddart in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) I. 169/1 The Latin ac and atque..in their first sense are mere copulatives. |
b. A connecting word or particle. rare.
| 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman ii. (1841) I. 13, I can by no means approve of studied abbreviations, and leaving out the needful copulatives of speech in trading letters. |
† c. Logic. = copula. Obs. rare.
| 1751 Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 162, 1. The subject..2. The predicate..and 3. The copulative. |
† 2. A copulative agent or instrument, a link. Obs.
| 1615 W. Hull Mirr. Maiestie 120 Righteousnesse, which is the copulative of all true vertues. |
† 3. Something involving or characterized by connexion or union; a connected whole. Obs.
| 1621 Bolton Stat. Irel. 165 The same Act being in such a copulative. 1656 Trapp Comm. John vii. 23 The law is one entire copulative. |
† 4. Used humorously of persons about to be coupled in marriage. Obs.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 58, I presse in heere sir, amongst the rest of the Country copulatiues. |
† 5. ? ‘Connexion, conjunction by marriage’ (Todd). Obs.
| 1679 Sir P. Ricaut State of Greek Ch. 307 They understand Polygamie to be a Conjunction of divers Copulatives in number, which is not understood till a person proceeds unto a fourth Wife, which makes more than one Copulative in the rule of Marriage. |