Dictionary Home » Webster's New World College Dictionary » genitive

genitive

genitive definition

geni·tive (jen′i tiv)

adjective

Gram. designating, of, or in a relational case typically expressing possession, source, or a partitive concept

Etymology: ME genitif < OFr < L (casus) genitivus, lit., (case) of orig. < genitus (see genital): mistransl. < Gr genikē, generic (case), (case) of genus < Gr genos, genus

noun

the genitive case: expressed by inflection in languages such as Latin and either by an analytical construction or by inflection in English (Ex.: the sons of the queen; the queen's sons)
a word or phrase in this case

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.