Frequentative definition

frē-kwĕntə-tĭv
Expressing or designating repeated action.
adjective
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A frequentative verb or verb form.
noun
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(gram.) A frequentative verb.

“sparkle” is a frequentative of “spark”

noun
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(grammar) Serving to express repetition of an action.

"Crackle" is an English frequentative verb derived from "crack".

adjective
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(grammar) Refers to a subclass of imperfective verbs that denote a repeated action, no longer productive in English, but found in e.g. Finnish, Latin, Russian, and Turkish.
noun
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(gram.) Expressing frequent and repeated action.
adjective
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
frequentative
Plural:
frequentatives

Origin of frequentative

  • Latin frequentātīvus from frequentātus past participle of frequentāre to repeat from frequēns frequent- frequent

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Late Latin frequentativus, from Latin frequentāre (“to do or use often”). Morphologically as if frequent +‎ -ative. Akin to frequent.

    From Wiktionary