desiderative, a. and n.
(dɪˈsɪdərətɪv)
[ad. L. dēsīderātīv-us (in late L. grammarians), f. dēsīderāt- ppl. stem: see -ive. (In mod.F. désidératif.)]
A. adj.
1. Having, expressing, or denoting desire; pertaining to desire.
| 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 207/1 That to every apprehensive faculty, there might be a desiderative; to embrace what it judgeth good, to refuse what it esteemeth evil. 1816 T. Taylor Ess. VIII. 50 The liver signifying that he lived solely according to the desiderative part of his nature. |
2. Gram. Of a verb or verbal form: Formed from another verb to express a desire of doing the act thereby denoted; of or pertaining to such a verb.
| 1552 Huloet H v b/1 It is to be noted how all verbes endyng in Turio.. be verbes desideratyue, as desierynge or entendynge to perfourme the act of their significations. 1711 tr. Werenfels' Disc. Logomachys 226 Verbs..frequentative, inchoative, imitative, and desiderative. 1857 M. Williams Sanskrit Gram. (1864) 202 Nouns and participles derived from the desiderative base are not uncommon. 1879 Whitney Sansk. Gram. §1026 By the desiderative conjugation is signified a desire for the action or condition denoted by the simple root. |
B. n. Gram. A desiderative verb, verbal form, or conjugation: see prec.
| 1751 Harris Hermes i. vii. (1786) 127 A species of Verbs called..in Latin Desiderativa, the Desideratives or Meditatives. 1855 Forbes Hind{uacu}stán{iacu} Gram. (1868) 65 Desideratives, as..‘to wish, or to be about, or like to speak’. 1857 M. Williams Sanskrit Gram. (1864) 205 Desideratives may take a passive form by adding ya to the desiderative base after rejecting final a. |