Attributives

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A characteristic or trait that is used to define or describe someone or something effectively
2. Elements that assign qualities or features to a subject or object
3. Qualities that are ascribed to individuals, items, or situations to convey specific meanings

Etymology: "Attributives" is the plural of "attributive," which in English most often names the word class that modifies a noun directly, as in "red" in "red car." The noun behind it, "attribute," came into English from Latin "attributus," the past participle of "attribuere," meaning to assign or allot to someone, with "ad-" ("to") and "tribuere" ("to give or assign") at its core. The original sense was therefore one of giving something to a person or thing, and the notion of a quality "belonging to" a subject grew out of that act of assignment. The adjective "attributive" was formed in English by adding the suffix "-ive" to "attribute." That suffix passed into English from Old French "-if," which descends from Latin "-īvus," a common ending that turns a verb's meaning into a tendency or capacity. An attributive, then, is a word that attributes something to the noun it stands beside, giving the noun a quality without a linking verb.