Accusative

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈkjuːzətɪv/

Definitions

1. A grammatical case that indicates the noun receiving the action of a verb
2. A linguistic term describing the form of a direct object influenced by a verb's action
3. A case in grammar used to identify the noun or pronoun that directly receives the action performed by the verb

Etymology: The grammatical term "accusative" rests on a translation error made in ancient Greece. Greek grammarians used "aitiatikē" to describe the case of the object, and the word meant "expressing an effect," from "aitiatos," "caused." Some Greek scholars, however, reanalyzed it as if it came from the verb "aitiaomai," "to blame," and the Romans then rendered it into Latin as "accusativus," which describes the case of one who is accused. The Latin version has nothing to do with the blame of a noun; it is a mistranslation that stuck. English received the term through Anglo-Norman or Middle French "acusatif" and Latin "accusativus," and it was first recorded in the mid-15th century. The English word is built from "accuse," from Latin "accusare," plus the suffix "-ative," which forms adjectives from verbs. Its meaning in English is therefore a sense of "pertaining to accusing," a grammatical sense inherited from the Latin mistranslation rather than from the Greek original.

Synonyms: oblique case, direct object case