adjective

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English adjectif,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman adjectyf and Middle French adjectif, first recorded in the early 14th century in the phrase nom adjectif,^[3][4] and directly borrowed from Late Latin adiectīvus (“adjectival, additional”), neuter adiectīvum.^[3][2][5] The Latin word comes from adiectus (“added”), the past participle of adiciō (“to throw to, add”),^[6][5][7][8] formed from ad- (“to”) and iaciō (“to throw”),^[6][5] which Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace to Proto-Indo-European *yē- (“to throw, impel”).^[6][5] The word was first used in the phrase noun adjective, rendering Late Latin nōmen adiectīvum, used by Priscian, a translation of Ancient Greek ὄνομα ἐπίθετον (ónoma epítheton, “attributive name”).^[9][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A word that describes a quality of a noun: before 1387, in a version of Langland's Piers Plowman,^[11][3] recorded in a manuscript of about 1400.^[3] The adjective, in noun adjective, is first recorded before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

Because an adjective cannot stand without its noun, the word came to mean "dependent, subordinate" in general: as a noun, a dependent person or thing (1597, in Gabriel Harvey), and as an adjective of persons from 1640.^[3][2] Jeremy Bentham used it in 1782 for the procedural law that serves the substantive law;^[3] from 1794 a dye was adjective if it needed a mordant to fix it.^[3] The OED notes that these senses have no parallel in French.^[3] From 1851, in Dickens, adjective stood in for a taboo word such as bloody,^[3][6] and in Australia bloody itself was called "the great Australian adjective".^[12] The verb, to make into or describe with adjectives, dates from 1802.^[3][2]

Timeline

• before 1387 – noun, a word that qualifies a noun.^[11][3]
• before 1398 – adjective, in noun adjective.^[3][11]
• 1597 – noun, a dependent person or thing.^[3]
• 1640 – adjective, dependent, subordinate.^[3]
• 1782 – in law, procedural.^[3]
• 1794 – of a dye, needing a mordant.^[3]
• 1802 – verb, to use as an adjective.^[3]
• 1851 – a euphemism for an expletive adjective.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) A word that describes or qualifies a noun or pronoun, such as red in a red door.^[13][2][3]

Adjective

1. (grammar) Of, being or working as an adjective; adjectival.^[2][3]
2. Not standing by itself; dependent or subordinate.^[2][13][3]
3. (law) Relating to court procedure, as opposed to substantive law.^[13][3]
4. Of a dye: needing a mordant to be fixed.^[3]

Verb

1. To turn into an adjective, or to describe with adjectives.^[2][3]

Word family

• adjectively
• adjectival
• adjective clause
• adjective phrase
• adjective pronoun
• proper adjective
• predicate adjective
• verbal adjective

Related words

• epithet
• noun
• substantive
• jet

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins