vocative

(väk′ə tiv)

adjective

Gram. designating, of, or in the case of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives used in direct address to indicate the person or thing addressed

Origin: ME vocatif < OFr or L: OFr < L vocativus < pp. of vocare, to call < vox, voice

noun

the vocative case: this case is expressed by a change in form in languages such as Latin and by word order and intonation in English (Ex.: Latin “Tite” for “Titus”; English “Bill” in “Bill, don't do that!”)
a word or phrase in this case

Related Forms:

See vocative in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective

Relating to, characteristic of, or used in calling.
Of, relating to, or being a grammatical case in certain inflected languages to indicate the person or thing being addressed.

noun