talkative

Etymology

It is formed from English talk + -ative,^[2][3][4][5] from the Middle English verb talken,^[6] and Etymonline and Klein call it an early hybrid: a verb of native origin with a suffix that goes back to Latin -ātīvus.^[5][7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Immoderate in speech, fond of talking: the first quotation, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon dated before 1475 and perhaps composed before 1425, says "Hit is a fowle vice in a kynge to be talkatyve in a feste".^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[5] and Dictionary.com to 1400–50.^[8]

Semantic evolution

It began as a term of reproach, and the Middle English Dictionary glosses it "immoderate in speech, boastful".^[6][5] Trevisa's earlier version of the same passage says to iangle moche, and the Latin has dicacem.^[6] An older Middle English word for this was tale-wise;^[5] Old English getælwīs, by contrast, meant skilled in computation.^[5] Figurative use, of things and qualities that are expressive or noisy, appeared almost at once, about 1475, in the Craft of Lovers.^[2] Johnson (1755) still glossed it "full of prate; loquacious",^[9] but it has softened: Etymonline finds it less pejorative than loquacious or garrulous,^[5] and Dictionary.com calls it neutral or mildly unfavourable.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1475 – given to talking; immoderate in speech.^[2][6]
• c. 1475 – of things or qualities, expressive or noisy.^[2]
• late 16th century – the adverb talkatively.^[3]
• early 17th century – the noun talkativeness.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fond of talking; chatty: The new neighbour turned out to be very talkative.^[10][4][2]
2. Of a thing or place: full of talk, or expressive and communicative: a talkative film.^[4][2]

Word family

• talkatively
• talkativeness
• nontalkative
• overtalkative
• untalkative

Related words

• tale

Usage notes

Dictionary.com separates three near-synonyms: talkative is the mildest, for someone inclined to talk a lot, sometimes to little purpose; garrulous implies tiresome talk about personal or trivial things; and loquacious implies sociable, continuous talk.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e 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)
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins