presentative

English
WOTD – 26 May 2022

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Late Latin praesentativus (“that presents for consideration”) + English -ive (suffix signifying belonging or relating to, of the nature of, serving to, or tending to, forming adjectives). Praesentativus is from Latin praesentātus (“presented, exhibited, or shown”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives);[1] while praesentātus is the perfect passive participle of praesentō (“to present, exhibit, or show”), from praesēns (“at hand, present; existing; immediate; prompt; propitious; (grammar) present”) (the present active participle of praesum (“to be before something; to be in charge of; to command, lead; to preside or rule over”), from prae- (prefix meaning ‘before, in front; in charge’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before; in front”)) + sum (“to be, exist, have”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”))) + -tō (frequentative suffix). The English word is analysable as present +‎ -ative.

The noun sense (“construct that serves to present something, or draw it to the attention of the interlocutor”) is derived from adjective sense 3 (“serving to present something, or draw it to the attention of the interlocutor”).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɹɪˈzɛntətɪv/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /pɹəˈzɛn(t)ətɪv/, /pri-/, [-ɾɪv]
  • Hyphenation: pre‧sent‧at‧ive

Adjective

presentative (comparative more presentative, superlative most presentative)

  1. Presenting, or able to represent, an idea in the mind.
    • 1885 April​, Robert Louis Stevenson, “[Later Essays.] On Some Technical Elements of Style in Literature.”, in Sidney Colvin, editor, The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, volume XI (Miscellanies, volume III), Edinburgh edition, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] and A[rchibald] Constable for Longmans Green and Co.; […], published 1895, OCLC 317649288, page 239:
      Of these we may distinguish two great classes: those arts, like sculpture, painting, acting, which are representative, or, as used to be said very clumsily, imitative; and those, like architecture, music, and the dance, which are self-sufficient, and merely presentative.
    • 2003, Melissa Raphael, “Holiness in Extremis: Jewish Women’s Resistance to the Profane in Auschwitz”, in Stephen C. Barton, editor, Holiness: Past and Present, London; New York, N.Y.: T&T Clark, →ISBN, part 4 (Holiness and Contemporary Issues), page 382:
      Now the face is a traditional metonym for divine presence in Jewish theology and, in its human form, the presentative image of God.
  2. (ecclesiastical law) Of a benefice, or the advowsons, tithes, etc., associated with a benefice: that a patron has the right to present.
    Antonym: donative
  3. (grammar) Serving to present something, or draw it to the attention of the interlocutor.
  4. (metaphysics, psychology) Of or pertaining to a presentation (“an image formed in the mind after an object is perceived”).
  5. (obsolete)
    1. Synonym of representative (“representing another, or representing a larger group”)
      • 1659, [Pierre Du Moulin], “Declaring wherein the Legislative Powers of Parliament Consists”, in [Matthew Playford], transl., The History of the English & Scotch Presbytery. […], Villa Franca [actually London: […] s.n.], OCLC 1113583831, page 72:
        [T]hat diſloyal Maxime, that the body of the State is above the King, is contradicted by the ordinary ſtyle of their papers preſented to the King by his Body: The Two Houſes [of Parliament] moſt humbly beſeech their Soveraign Lord the King, and they qualifie themſelves, the moſt humble and Loyal ſubjects of his Majestie, ’tis the Preſentative Body of the Kingdome who ſpeaks, and nothing by way of Complement but Duty: […]
    2. (rare) Of or pertaining to an act of presenting or giving an object to someone.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

presentative (plural presentatives)

Example

There appeared a cat on the window sill.

In the above sentence, the word there is a presentative as it introduces the cat and brings it to the attention of the person to whom the statement is directed.

  1. (grammar) A construct that serves to present something, or draw it to the attention of the interlocutor.

Translations

References
  1. “presentative, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “presentative, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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