Adj

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Serving as a descriptive term that modifies a noun to provide more information about its attributes ; a word class used to express qualities, quantities, or states related to a noun ; a linguistic category that functions to qualify or limit the meaning of another word in a sentence
2. A part of speech that offers details about an entity by indicating characteristics or properties ; a grammatical element that specifies or changes the meaning of a noun by describing aspects like color, size, or condition ; a modifier in language placed before or after a noun to clarify or enhance its meaning
3. Denoting a word form used to identify or express attributes of things or persons ; a descriptive language component that conveys qualities, states, or extents related to a subject ; a lexical category used to make nouns more specific by highlighting particular traits or measures

Etymology: "Adj" is simply a clipped form of "adjective," the grammatical term for a word that describes a noun. The full word comes from Latin "adjectivum," a noun built from "adjicere," meaning "to throw or add to," with the parts "ad-" (to) and "jacere" (to throw). The idea is that an adjective is thrown onto a noun to add information about it. The shortened form appears in dictionaries and grammar teaching as a convenient abbreviation, and it is written with a full stop, "adj.", as is common for abbreviations. It is the same word in a briefer shape rather than a separate term with its own history.

Synonyms: adjective