Added 9 October 2026
accusative
/əˈkjuːzətɪv/ noun
In Latin: accūsātīvus First recorded: mid 15th century Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about accusative at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
adjective
-
Containing or expressing accusation.
an accusative forefinger
-
Serving as or indicating the object of a verb or of certain prepositions and used for certain other purposes.
objective case
Origin
First attested in the mid 15th century. From Middle English accusative, from Anglo-Norman accusatif or Middle French acusatif or from Latin accūsātīvus (“having been blamed”), from accūsō (“to blame”). Equivalent to accuse + -ative. The Latin form is a mistranslation of the Ancient Greek grammatical term αἰτιᾱτική (aitiātikḗ, “expressing an effect”). This term actually comes from αἰτιᾱτός (aitiātós, “caused”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, adjective suffix), but was reanalyzed as coming from αἰτιᾱ- (aitiā-), the stem of the verb αἰτιάομαι (aitiáomai, “to blame”), + -τῐκός (-tĭkós, verbal adjective suffix).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)