frequentative, a. and n.
(frɪˈkwɛntətɪv)
[ad. L. frequentātīv-us (in the later L. grammarians), f. frequentāt- ppl. stem of frequentāre: see frequent v. and -ive. Cf. F. fréquematif, -ive.]
A. adj.
† 1. Accustomed, versed in. Obs. Sc. rare—1.
| 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus ii. 79 In siclik Actis thay [the Musis] ar frequentatiue, And mair facill ȝour mater will consaif. |
2. Gram. Of a verb or verbal form: Serving to express the frequent repetition of an action.
| 1533 Udall Flowers Lat. Sp. 115 Rescio..and a verbe frequentatiue of the same: rescisco. 1656 Hammond Wks. (1684) II. 70 There is no such thing in the Greek language, as the variation of frequentative, transitive, and reciprocal. 1711 [see desiderative a. 2]. 1793 Beattie Moral Sc. i. i. §3. 58 The verbs called Deponent, Desiderative, Frequentative..etc. 1845 Stoddart in Encycl. Metrop. I. 50/1 The termination so in viso, has a desiderative force, in pulso, a frequentative. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xxxvi. 415 An action may be often repeated, and a frequentative conjugation follows. |
B. n. Gram. A frequentative verb, verbal form, or conjugation: see prec.
| 1530 Palsgr. 403 They knowe neyther frequentatyves, nor inchoatyves. 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1856) I. 125 It is not exiliit neither, but exultavit. And that is a frequentative; and so he did it more than once. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 193 By the addition of le, it becomes a Frequentative, as Sparkle. 1870 F. Hall Hindî Reader 137 [Karnâ], following an uninflected past participle, forms a frequentative. |
† b. ? An adverb expressing frequency. Obs.
| 1635 Grammar Warre B viij, Other Adverbs: as Indicatives, Frequentatives, Meditatives. |