accusative

2 synonyms for accusative, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adjective — Suggesting or making an accusation, or reflecting a finding of fault or blame.

Synonyms

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

accusatory accusatorial

How to use accusative

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

accusative case accusative tone accusative pronoun in the accusative

The grammar sense is a technical term used mainly when discussing languages with case systems.

Etymology

Accusative was first used in English in the mid fifteenth century. It entered English via Anglo-Norman or Middle French forms of the word (accusatif), both descended from Latin accūsātīvus, meaning having been blamed, from the verb accūsō, to blame. That Latin term was actually a mistranslation of an Ancient Greek gram...

Full origin of accusative →

Frequently asked questions

What does accusative mean?

Outside grammar, it describes speech or writing that sounds like an accusation or assigns blame. In grammar, it names the case marking a verb's direct object.

What is the accusative case used for?

It marks the noun or pronoun that receives the action of a transitive verb, as with direct objects in Latin, Greek and German.

Where does the word accusative come from?

It came into English from Anglo-Norman or Middle French forms of Latin accūsātīvus, from accūsō, to blame, though that Latin term was originally a mistranslation of a Greek grammar term.

Nearby words

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