informative

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English informatif (“formative, shaping”),^[2][3] borrowed from Medieval Latin informātīvus (“formative; instructive”),^[3][4][5][6] from Latin informātus, the past participle of informō (“to shape, give form to; to train, instruct”), with the suffix -īvus.^[3][4][7] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“into”) and fōrmō (“to form”), from fōrma (“form”), the source of the English verb.^[4][5] In British Latin sources the adjective meant "formative" from the early 13th century, in medicine and philosophy, and "instructive" from 1620.^[3] The OED compares Middle French informatif, which had the senses "shaping" by about 1400 and "imparting knowledge" only from 1939.^[3] Merriam-Webster takes it as inform and -ative.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Forming or shaping something, especially a child in the womb: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, in the phrase vertue informatif, the formative power.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English sense, "having power to form or animate", followed the scholastic and medical Latin use of the word.^[4][3] From 1593 it was a legal term for what relates to an information, a formal charge, until the mid-18th century.^[3][6] The modern sense "imparting knowledge, instructive" is recorded from 1646,^[3] or the 1650s according to Etymonline,^[4] and took over as the older senses died out; "imbuing with life", from 1642, is now rare.^[3] In bridge an informative double, from 1914, is one that tells a partner about the hand.^[3][6]

Timeline

• before 1398 – forming or shaping (obsolete by 1582).^[3][2]
• 1593 – in law, relating to an information (obsolete by 1751).^[3]
• 1642 – imbuing with life or spirit (now rare).^[3]
• 1646 – imparting knowledge; instructive.^[3]
• 1914 – in bridge, of a double that informs one's partner.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Giving useful information or knowledge; instructive: an informative guide to the museum.^[8][3]
2. (obsolete) Having the power to form or animate.^[8][3][6]

Word family

• informatively
• informativeness
• noninformative

Related words

• inform
• information
• informatory
• form

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster