demonstrative

Etymology

From Middle English demonstratif, from Middle French démonstratif; equivalent to demonstrate +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈmɒnstɹətɪv/, (nonstandard) /ˈdɛmənstɹeɪtɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈmɑnstɹətɪv/, /dəˈmɑnstɹətɪv/, (nonstandard) /ˈdɛmənstɹeɪtɪv/

Adjective

demonstrative (comparative more demonstrative, superlative most demonstrative)

1. that serves to demonstrate, show or prove
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     an argument necessary and demonstrative

2. given to open displays of emotion
   • 1783, Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres:

     demonstrative eloquence

   • 1865, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, Chapter III:

     He had rather a contempt for demonstrative people, arising from his medical insight into the consequences to health of uncontrolled feeling.

3. (grammar) that specifies the thing or person referred to

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

demonstrative

Wikipedia

demonstrative (plural demonstratives)

1. (grammar) A demonstrative word
   1. A demonstrative adjective.
   2. A demonstrative pronoun.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

demonstrative

1. inflection of demonstrativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Adjective

dēmōnstrātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of dēmōnstrātīvus

References

• “demonstrative”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• demonstrative in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.