Etymologically
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creative

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kriˈeɪ.tɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English create + -ive,[2][3] compare Old French creatif and Medieval Latin creativus.[3] It is related to creation and creature.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Having the quality of creating, given to creating”: 1678 in the OED and Merriam-Webster,[4][5] the 1670s in Etymonline.[2] The Shorter Oxford dates it from the late 15th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson in 1755 defined it as “having the power to create” and “exerting the act of creation”.[6] Of literature and art, “imaginative, inventive”, it is from 1816, in Wordsworth,[2][4] and creative writing is from 1848.[2] Creative evolution translates Bergson's L'Évolution créatrice (1907) and is from 1909.[4] Of financial strategies, imaginative or ingenious, especially as in creative accounting, it is from 1973.[4] The noun, a creative person, especially one who makes advertisements, is from 1962 in Merriam-Webster,[7] and creative material in advertising from 1938 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged.[5]

Timeline

  • 1678 – able to create.[4][5]
  • 1755 – Johnson: “having the power to create”.[6]
  • 1816 – of art, imaginative.[2][4]
  • 1848 – creative writing.[2]
  • 1909 – creative evolution.[4]
  • 1962 – noun, a creative person.[7]
  • 1973 – of accounting.[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Having the ability or power to create.
  2. Marked by originality and expressiveness; imaginative.
  3. Productive; creating.
  4. Of accounting, inventive in a way that misleads.

Noun

  1. A person who shows creative originality, especially one who designs advertisements.

Word family

  • creatively
  • creativeness
  • uncreative
  • creativity

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster