purpositive

P3U1R1P3O1S1I1T1I1V4E1
UK/ˈpəːpəsᵻtɪv/US/ˈpɚpəsədɪv/

A form of purposive — Serving a particular purpose; useful; adapted to a given purpose, especially through natural evolution.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

adjectivepurpositive (comparative more purpositive, superlative most purpositive)

comparative more purpositive · superlative most purpositive

  1. rareRare form of purposive

    Future tense purpositive 將來的時言主意

    1823, Robert Morrison, A Grammar of the English Language for the Use of the Anglo-Chinese College, Macao, China: Peter Perring Thoms, page 73
    4 more examples

    The searching or feeling movements of the processes have a significantly purpositive effect, and that the whole is the seat of life one is convinced beyond a doubt.

    1890 September 29, Benjamin Kidd, “The Battle of the Eggs”, in Longman's Magazine, volume 16, number 95, via the Internet Archive, pages 504–518

    The special symptoms for which these patients seek relief are the hemiataxia which interferes with purpositive movement of the limbs […]

    1913, Gordon Morgan Holmes, “Diseases of the Optic Thalamus, Midbrain, and Cerebellum, and Their Treatment”, in William A. White, Smith Ely Jelliffe, editors, The Modern Treatment of Nervous and Mental Diseases: By American and British Authors, volume II, Philadelphia and New York: Lea & Febiger, pages 613–614

    […] the accidental sense may be obvious but the purpositive difficult to find.

    1973 November 29, Harald Weydt, “On G. Lakoff, 'Instrumental Adverbs and the Concept of Deep Structure', Foundations of Language 4 (1968), 4-29”, in Foundations of Language, volume 10, number 4, →JSTOR, pages 569–578

    We used a purpositive convenience sample of adult patients with different rheumatologic diagnoses who were cared for at the out-patient rheumatology clinic at the HGM.

    2004 January 29, Patricia Clark, Pilar Lavielle, Carolina Duarte, “Patient ratings of care at a rheumatology out-patient uni”, in Archives of Medical Research, volume 35, number 1, →DOI, →PMID, pages 82–86

Origin

  1. Middle Englishpurpos
  2. Englishpurpose
  3. Englishpurpositive

From purpose + -tive.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

purpositive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpositive

MLA

“purpositive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpositive. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “purpositive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purpositive.

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