Meanings
comparative more recusative · superlative most recusative
- obsoleterareRefusing; denying; rejecting of the norm.
it is acquisitive and effective , or recusative and destructive , otherwise than it is in any other faculties
1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in All Her General Measures; […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] James Flesher, for Richard Royston […], →OCLC3 more examples
For many years, scholars have concentrated espcially on the "recusative” function of medieval marvels, especially of gargoyles and other grotesques—that is, their signification as demonic or morally reprehensible—which, as Williams notes, may be the easiest signification of the monstrous to comprehend or to describe:.
2004, Erika E. Hess, Literary HybridsOn Tír, it was only the recusative priests who painted their faces —they painted them black, along with the palms of their hands
2014, Frank P. Ryan, The Sword of FeimhinAs we move from Montagu's own theorization of translation to her complex recusative acts of allusion and finally to her Virgilian allegories, we can track two coextensive performances .
2019, Daniel O'Quinn, Engaging the Ottoman Empire: Vexed Mediations, 1690-1815, page 166 - human sciencesIncluding the word 'not' (or its equivalent).
In recusative negation the negative element is separable from the rest of the utterance which can act as an autonomous non-negative utterance.
2008, Matti Miestamo, Standard Negation2 more examples
A sentence which is negative (in meaning) is not always recusative (containing the word 'not'), and vice versa: a propositive syntagm need not always be positive.
1972, Niels Danielsen, Die Frage: Eine sprachwissenschaftliche UntersuchungExceptions are found in some Central/North Dravidian languages which developed a recusative type of negation under the influence of Indo-Aryan/Iranian languages.
2010, Jan Wohlgemuth, Michael Cysouw, Rara & Rarissima, page 301
Origin
- Late Latinrecūsātīvus“prohibitory”
- Englishrecusative
From the Late Latin recūsātīvus (“prohibitory”).
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
recusative. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recusative
“recusative.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recusative. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recusative,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recusative.
Source: recusative on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.