Additive dictionary definition

additive

[ad′ə tiv]

adjective

Origin of additive

Late Latin additivus: see add

noun

a substance added to another in small quantities to produce a desired effect, as a preservative added to food or an antiknock added to gasoline

noun

A substance added in small amounts to something else to improve, strengthen, or otherwise alter it.

adjective

Marked by, produced by, or involving addition.
Of or being any of certain primary colors of wavelengths that may be mixed with one another to produce other colors. See Table at color.

Related Forms:

Adjective

(comparative more additive, superlative most additive)

(mathematics) Pertaining to addition; that can be, or has been, added.
(mathematics, of a function, etc.) Distributive over addition.
Matrix multiplication is additive in that .
(algebra) Having addition as an operator.
It is natural to look at a finite cyclic group as an additive group.
(chemistry) Pertaining to chemical addition.
(genetics) Describing genes (the interaction etc. of such genes) which govern the same trait and whose effects work together on the phenotype.

Antonyms

Noun

(plural additives)

A substance added to another substance or product for its ability to alter its properties.
Oil may be used as an additive in gasoline to improve the lubrication of a small engine.
(grammar) A word or phrase that adds something, such as also, even, or nor.