Etymologically
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descriptive

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɪˈskɹɪptɪv/[1]
  • US: /dɪˈskɹɪptɪv/, /dəˈskɹɪptɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēscrīptīvus (“serving to describe”),[2][3][4][5][6][7] recorded from the 4th century,[2] from dēscrīptus, the past participle of dēscrībō (“to write down, copy; to sketch, represent”),[3][6][4] with the suffix -īvus.[2][8] The verb, the source of describe, is formed from dē- (“down”) and scrībō (“to write”),[3] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *skribh- (“to cut”).[3] Compare French descriptif, recorded once in 1464 and then from 1769, Spanish descriptivo and Italian descrittivo.[2] The linguistic sense follows German deskriptiv, used in 1880.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Serving or seeking to describe: 1593, in J. Napier's work on the Revelation of St John, in the OED's revised entry.[2] Older dictionaries date the word much later: Merriam-Webster to 1723,[8] Etymonline to 1751,[3] Dictionary.com to 1745–55[7] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 18th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

From 1652 the word was used with of, as in descriptive of something.[2] From 1797 it was set against judging or prescribing, of an account that describes how things are;[2] in 1862 W. D. Whitney applied this to the study of language, in contrast to prescriptive and normative.[2] From 1807 it described a science concerned with description and classification rather than theory,[2][9] and descriptive linguistics, the study of a language's structure at one time, follows the German usage translated in 1888.[2] Grammarians used it from 1849 for modifiers that describe rather than identify or restrict,[2][9] chess players from 1863 for a system of recording moves,[2] and anthropologists from 1866, after Lewis H. Morgan, for a kind of kinship terminology.[2] The noun, a descriptive word or phrase, dates from 1809;[2] Merriam-Webster records it for a phrase applied to a product in advertising.[8]

Timeline

  • 1593 – serving to describe.[2]
  • 1652 – descriptive of, describing a given thing.[2]
  • 1723 – first known use, in Merriam-Webster.[8]
  • 1751 – first date in Etymonline.[3]
  • 1797 – describing how things are, without judging.[2]
  • 1807 – of a science, concerned with description and classification.[2]
  • 1809 – noun, a descriptive word or phrase.[2]
  • 1849 – in grammar, of a describing modifier.[2]
  • 1862 – of the description of actual language use, as opposed to prescription.[2]
  • 1888 – descriptive linguistics.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Serving to describe; full of description: a descriptive passage about the harbour.[9][8][2]
  2. Describing how things are rather than judging them or laying down rules; of grammar or linguistics, recording actual usage, as opposed to prescriptive.[9][2]
  3. Of a science, concerned with description and classification rather than explanation.[9][2]
  4. (grammar) Of an adjective or clause, describing the thing referred to rather than limiting or identifying it.[9][2]

Noun

  1. A descriptive word or phrase, especially one used for a product in advertising.[8][2]

Word family

  • descriptively
  • descriptiveness
  • undescriptive
  • descriptivist
  • overdescriptive
  • self-descriptive

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins