different between comparative vs correlative

English

Etymology

From Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparativus, equivalent to comparatus, from comparare (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -ivus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?m?pæ?.?.t?v/
• (General American) enPR: k?m?p?r-?-t?v
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /k?m?pæ?.?.t?v/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /k?m?p??.?.t?v/
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Hyphenation: com?par?a?tive

Adjective

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

1. Of or relating to comparison.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   • 1773, James Burnett, Of the Origin and Progress of Language

     that kind of animals that have the comparative faculty, by which they compare things together, deliberate and resolve

2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.

3. Approximated by comparison; relative.
   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences

     The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.

   • 1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism

     This bubble, […] by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.

4. (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137:

     And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

comparative (plural comparatives)

1. (grammar) A construction showing a relative quality, in English usually formed by adding more or appending -er. For example, the comparative of green is greener; of evil, more evil.
2. (grammar) A word in the comparative form.
3. (chiefly in the plural) Data used to make a comparison.
4. (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.

   • Gerrard ever was / His full comparative.

5. (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Pt. 1, III.ii.67:

     Every beardless vain comparative.

Synonyms

• (grammar: degree): comparative degree

Translations

Related terms

• absolute, absolute superlative, relative superlative, comparative superlative
• degrees of comparison
• superlative

See also

• contrastive

References

• “comparative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “comparative” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "comparative" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• vampire taco

French

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine singular of comparatif

Italian

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine plural of comparativo

Anagrams

• comparivate
• crepitavamo

Latin

Adjective

compar?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of compar?t?vus

References

• comparative in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

English

Etymology

correlate +? -ive

Adjective

correlative (comparative more correlative, superlative most correlative)

1. Mutually related; corresponding.

   • If we reinterpret these phenomena in terms of a consistently
     game-playing model of behavior, the need to distinguish be-
     tween primary and secondary gains disappears. The correla-
     tive necessity to estimate the relative significance of physio-
     logical needs and dammed-up impulses on the one hand, and
     of social and interpersonal factors on the other, also vanishes.
     Since needs and impulses cannot be said to exist in human
     social life without specified rules for dealing with them, in-
     stinctual needs cannot be considered solely in terms of biologi-
     cal rules, but must also be viewed in terms of their psycho-
     social significance—that is, as parts of the game.

Translations

Noun

correlative (plural correlatives)

1. Either of two correlative things.
2. (grammar) A pro-form; a non-personal pronominal, proadjectival, or proadverbial form

Translations

Italian

Adjective

correlative

1. feminine plural of correlativo