Comitative

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. A grammatical case indicating that something accompanies or is done together with another thing or person
2. The linguistic case form marking the sense of being with or in company of someone or something
3. Describing a case ending used to show accompaniment, meaning together with or along with another party

Etymology: "Comitative" is a grammatical term for a case that marks accompaniment, as in "with his brother" or "together with the children." It comes from Latin "comitātum," meaning "that which is accompanied," a notion that carries the sense of company or escort. The Latin root "comes" (companion, attendant) also gave English "count" in the sense of a noble, a link that a reader might not expect. The word belongs to the vocabulary of linguistics, where it names a case rather than a everyday idea. Languages such as Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian mark it with a dedicated ending, so a speaker can express "with" through the shape of the noun itself rather than through a separate preposition. English relies on prepositions for the same job, which is why the term sounds exotic to many English speakers.

Synonyms: sociative