Meanings
- not comparablegrammargrammatically expressing the notion that something is avoided or feared: a grammatical mood found in some Australian Aboriginal languages.
1 more example
The non-past non-evitative potential corresponds both to the English indicative future and to all imperatives (including jussive and hortatory imperatives); the evitative is used to mark future events that are feared or to be avoided , and corresponds to English "lest..." constructions, except that it is not limited to subordinate clauses.
1986, Language, Linguistic Society of AmericaSynonyms: aversive
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivegrammatically expressing the notion that something is avoided or feared: a grammatical mood found in some Australian Aboriginal languages.
Origin
- Latinēvītāre“to avoid”
- Englishevitative
From Latin ēvītāre (“to avoid”), from ē- (“out”) + vītāre (“to shun”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
evitative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evitative
“evitative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evitative. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “evitative,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evitative.
Source: evitative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.