Meanings
nounvocative case (plural vocative cases)
plural vocative cases
- grammarcase of address, case used for a noun identifying the person or thing being addressed. It corresponds to the archaic English particle "O" as used in solemn or poetic address e.g.: Hear me, O Albion! Languages that regularly employ the vocative include Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Czech, Georgian, Greek, Hawaiian, Hindi-Urdu, Irish, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Ojibwe, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ruthenian/Rusyn, Sanskrit, Scottish Gaelic, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Tamil and Ukrainian.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe case (in some inflected languages) used when the referent of the noun is being addressed
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek κλητική
- κλητική (klētikḗ)case of address
Arabic نِدَاء
- نِدَاء (nidāʔ)case of address
Bengali সম্বোধন
- সম্বোধন (śombōdhon)case of address
Bulgarian зва́телен паде́ж
- зва́телен паде́ж (zvátelen padéž)case of address
Chinese Mandarin 呼格
- 呼格 (hūgé)case of address
Czech vokativ, pátý pád
- vokativcase of address
- pátý pádcase of address
Danish vokativ
- vokativcase of address
Dutch aanspreekvorm, vocatief
- aanspreekvormcase of address
- vocatiefcase of address
Esperanto vokativo
- vokativocase of address
Finnish vokatiivi
- vokatiivicase of address
French vocatif
- vocatifcase of address
German Vokativ, Anredefall
- Vokativcase of address
- Anredefallcase of address
Greek κλητική
- κλητική (klitikí)case of address
Hebrew יַחֲסַת פְּנִיָּה
- יַחֲסַת פְּנִיָּה (yakhasát p'niyá)case of address
Hindi संबोधन
- संबोधन (sambodhan)case of address
Hungarian megszólító eset
- megszólító esetcase of address
Icelandic ávarpsfall
- ávarpsfallcase of address
Irish gairmeach, tuiseal gairmeach
- gairmeachcase of address
- tuiseal gairmeachcase of address
Italian vocativo
- vocativocase of address
Japanese 呼格
- 呼格 (kokakú)case of address
Korean 호격
- 호격 (hogyeok)case of address
Latin casus vocātīvus
- casus vocātīvuscase of address
Latvian vokatīvs
- vokatīvscase of address
Lithuanian šauksmininkas
- šauksmininkascase of address
Norwegian vokativ
- vokativcase of address
Polish wołacz
- wołaczcase of address
Portuguese vocativo
- vocativocase of address
Romanian vocativ, cazul vocativ
- vocativcase of address
- cazul vocativcase of address
Russian зва́тельный паде́ж
- зва́тельный паде́ж (zvátelʹnyj padéž)case of address
Scottish Gaelic tuiseal gairmeach
- tuiseal gairmeachcase of address
Slovak piaty pád, vokatív
- piaty pádcase of address
- vokatívcase of address
Spanish caso vocativo, vocativo
- caso vocativocase of address
- vocativocase of address
Swedish vokativ
- vokativcase of address
Tamil விளி, விளி வேற்றுமை
- விளி (viḷi)case of address
- விளி வேற்றுமை (viḷi vēṟṟumai)case of address
- எட்டாம் வேற்றுமை (eṭṭām vēṟṟumai)case of address
Turkish vokatif, seslenmelik
- vokatifcase of address
- seslenmelikcase of address
Ukrainian кли́чний відмі́нок
- кли́чний відмі́нок (klýčnyj vidmínok)case of address
Urdu پتہ
- پتہ (patā)case of address
Welsh cyfarchol
- cyfarcholcase of address
Cite this entry
APA
vocative case. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vocative%20case
MLA
“vocative case.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vocative%20case. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vocative case,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vocative%20case.
Source: vocative case on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.