connective

C3O1N1N1E1C3T1I1V4E1
/kəˈnɛktɪv/

adjective

Serving or tending to connect; connecting.

Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

adjectiveconnective (not comparable)
  1. not comparableServing or tending to connect; connecting.

    Society is doomed to an ignominious death as soon as the connective tissue of institutions and the ossified material of officialdom with its rank growth of unyielding red tape and formalism begin to spread, choking, and strangling the free, personal life of the individual.

    1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress

    Synonyms: syndetic

nounconnective (plural connectives)

plural connectives

  1. That which connects.
  2. human sciencesA function that operates on truth values to give another truth value.

    Condition iii) ensures that the truth-rules for the sentential connectives and quantifiers are satisfied within one and the same valuation νₛ.

    2008 October 8, Holger Andreas, “Another Solution to the Problem of Theoretical Terms”, in Erkenntnis, volume 69, number 3, →DOI
  3. grammarA word used to connect words, clauses and sentences, most commonly applied to conjunctions.
  4. biologyThe tissue which connects the locules of an anthers together.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveServing or tending to connect; connecting.

Similar
Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveconnecting or tending to connect

nounan uninflected function word that serves to conjoin words or phrases or clauses or sentences

Broader
function wordclosed-class word

nounan instrumentality that connects

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinconnexīvus
  2. Englishconnective

For connexive, borrowed from Latin connexīvus. Displacement of x by ct in Latin loanwords is very common. Compare connect, connectivum, connection.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish konnektiivi
  • konnektiivifunction that operates on truth values
German Konnektiv, Konnektor
  • Konnektivword used to connect
  • Konnektorword used to connect
Icelandic samtenging, tenging
  • samtengingfunction that operates on truth values
  • tengingfunction that operates on truth values
  • tengillfunction that operates on truth values
Polish spójnik
  • spójnikfunction that operates on truth values
Portuguese conectivo
  • conectivofunction that operates on truth values
Romanian conectiv
  • conectivfunction that operates on truth values
Swedish konnektiv
  • konnektivfunction that operates on truth values
Welsh cysylltair
  • cysylltairword used to connect

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with connective

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

connective. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/connective

MLA

“connective.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/connective. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “connective,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/connective.

Source: connective on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.