Adverbium

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A part of speech that modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by providing information about manner, place, time, degree, or frequency
2. A grammatical category used to describe words that qualify actions, qualities, or other modifiers by indicating context such as how, where, when, or to what extent
3. A class of words functioning to adjust or specify the meaning of verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, often expressing notions of time, place, manner, degree, or frequency

Etymology: "Adverbium" is simply Latin for "adverb," built from "ad," meaning "to" or "toward," and "verbum," meaning "word." The name describes its job: the word is attached to a verb (or to an adjective or another adverb) to modify it. Latin grammarians coined the term by translating the Greek "epirrhema," literally "upon the word," which they used for the same class of words. The English word "adverb" came into use in the Middle Ages, borrowed through Old French from this Latin term. "Adverbium" itself, as a Latin noun, is the form a Latin grammar text would use to name the category.

Synonyms: adverb