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emotive

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Etymology and origin of the English word emotive

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1596 T. Lodge, Wits Miserie More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin moveō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English emotion
English emotive
From the same root
English emotional ← emotion

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪˈməʊtɪv/[1]
  • US: /ɪˈmoʊtɪv/[1]

Etymology

The OED derives it from Latin ēmōt-, the past participial stem of ēmoveō (“to move out, remove”), with the suffix -ive;[2][3][4][5] the Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Dictionary.com take it as formed from English emotion + -ive.[6][7][8] The Latin verb is formed from ex- (“out”) and moveō (“to move”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, an emotion or agitation of mind: 1596, in T. Lodge's Wits Miserie, a rare use now obsolete.[2] As an adjective, causing movement: 1725, in J. Sedgwick's New Treatise on Liquors;[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1735.[3]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense "causing movement" did not last.[2][3] From 1830 the adjective meant "relating to the emotions",[2][6] from 1846 it was used of a person able to feel or show strong emotion,[2] and since 1847 it has meant "arousing strong feeling", the main sense today.[2][9] In philosophy and literary criticism it came to describe language that expresses emotion rather than describing facts, as in the emotive theory of ethical judgements;[2][10] the OED dates this use to 1842, Etymonline to 1923.[2][3] The noun use the emotive, emotions taken together, is recorded from 1843.[2]

Timeline

  • 1596 – noun, an emotion, a feeling (obsolete).[2]
  • 1725 – causing movement (obsolete).[2]
  • 1830 – relating to emotion.[2][6]
  • 1842 – in philosophy and criticism, expressing emotion rather than describing.[2]
  • 1843 – noun, the emotive, emotions collectively.[2]
  • 1846 – of a person, liable to feel or express strong emotion.[2]
  • 1847 – arousing strong feeling.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Arousing or meant to arouse strong feeling: Hunting is an emotive topic in the village.[9][11][6]
  2. Relating to or marked by emotion.[11][6][2]
  3. (philosophy) Expressing emotion rather than describing facts.[2][10][6]

Word family

  • emotively
  • emotivity
  • emotiveness
  • hyperemotive
  • nonemotive
  • unemotive

Usage notes

Emotive and emotional are not interchangeable: emotive means arousing strong feeling (an emotive issue), while emotional describes a show of feeling (an emotional welcome).[9][11]

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  9. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Emotive.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/emotive. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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