modificative, a. and n.
(ˈmɒdɪfɪkeɪtɪv)
[ad. med.L. modificātīv-us, f. ppl. stem of L. modificāre to modify: see -ative. Cf. F. modificatif, -ive (18th c.).]
a. adj. That has the property of modifying. b. n. Something that modifies; a modifying word or clause.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Gen. (1662) i. 59 The Spirit of Truth it self, where Numbers and Measures are concerned, useth the aforesaid Modificatives [‘almost’, ‘very nigh’]. 1685 H. More Paralip. Prophet. 487 And though it be true that the Settlement of the Reformation is a further Perfection added thereto, yet that is but a modificative Addition to it, but that which is the main, the form and substance of the Reformation was before. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Modificative, something that modifies, or gives a thing a certain manner of being. Ibid., This last kind of words, which serve to modify nouns and verbs, since they have no general name in the common grammars, he [Buffier] chuses to call modificatives. a 1832 Bentham Language Wks. 1843 VIII. 317/2 In this case put the modificative clause before the clause intended to be modified. |