Aggregative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the act of merging diverse elements to create a unified assembly
2. Relating to the process of combining multiple components into a single entity
3. Describing something characterized by the gathering of separate elements into one body

Etymology: "Aggregative" is simply "aggregate" with the suffix "-ive" attached, and the suffix carries most of the adjective's sense. "Aggregate" itself comes from Latin "aggregare," meaning "to add to a flock or herd," built from "ad-" ("to") and "grex" ("flock"). The image is of animals or people being brought together into one group. The suffix "-ive" has a long road into English. It descends from Latin "-īvus," which formed adjectives meaning "having the nature of" or "tending to" something. Old French took it as "-if," and Middle English adopted that as "-yf," which later became the modern "-ive." So "aggregative" describes something with a tendency toward the action the root names: a gathering, drawing-together quality.

Synonyms: collective, cumulative

Antonyms: individual, singular