- denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in inflected languages used to indicate a relation of ownership or association, usually translated by English of
- the genitive case
- a word or speech element in this case
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
gen•i•tive /ˈdʒɛnɪtɪv/USA pronunciation adj.
n. [countable;
usually singular;
the + ~]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Grammarof or naming a grammatical form that indicates possession, measure, origin, or other close association, such as painter's, in the painter's brush;
week's, as in a week's pay;
author's, as in the author's book;
and women's, as in women's colleges.
n. [countable;
usually singular;
the + ~]
- Grammarthe genitive case;
a word or form in this case:The genitive of the pronoun me is my.
gen•i•tive
( jen′i tiv),USA pronunciation [Gram.]
adj.
n.
gen•i•ti•val
( jen′i tī′vəl),USA pronunciation adj.
gen′i•ti′val•ly, adv.
adj.
- Grammar(in certain inflected languages) noting a case of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, used primarily to express possession, measure, or origin: as John's hat, week's vacation, duty's call.
- Grammarnoting an affix or other element characteristic of this case, or a word containing such an element.
- Grammarsimilar to such a case form in function or meaning.
n.
- Grammarthe genitive case.
- Grammara word in the genitive case.
- Grammara construction noting this case or the relationship usually expressed by it. Cf. possessive.
- Medieval Latin genitīvus, equivalent. to genit(us) (past participle of gignere to beget) + -īvus -ive
- 1350–1400; Middle English
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
genitive /ˈdʒɛnɪtɪv/ adj