Meanings
adjectiveprivative (comparative more privative, superlative most privative)
comparative more privative · superlative most privative
- grammarIndicating the absence of something.
nounprivative (plural privatives)
plural privatives
- something that causes privation or indicates an absence
Origin
- Latinprivativus
- Englishprivative
From Latin privativus.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek στερητικός
- στερητικός (sterētikós)indicating the absence of something
Bulgarian отрицателен
- отрицателен (otricatelen)indicating the absence of something
Catalan privatiu
- privatiuindicating the absence of something
French privatif
- privatifindicating the absence of something
Hungarian fosztó-, fosztóképzős
- fosztó-indicating the absence of something
- fosztóképzősindicating the absence of something
Italian privativo
- privativoindicating the absence of something
Norwegian Bokmål privativ
- privativindicating the absence of something
Polish prywatywny
- prywatywnyindicating the absence of something
Portuguese privativo
- privativoindicating the absence of something
Spanish privativo
- privativoindicating the absence of something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with privative
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
privative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/privative
MLA
“privative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/privative. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “privative,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/privative.
Source: privative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.