Elativ
German, noun/ˈeːlaˌtiːf/
Elativ is spelled E-L-A-T-I-V (6 letters) and appears about once in every 50 million words in written German, the 428,887th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Elativ is a German masculine noun meaning “absolute superlative” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “absolut höchste Stufe der Steigerung der Adjektive; der Elativ wird im Deutschen durch den absoluten…”.
What does Elativ mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineabsolute superlative
Die italienische Endung -issimo drückt den Elativ aus.
- 2
masculineelative (a grammatical form that expresses the comparative, superlative, and absolute superlative)
Das Arabische kennt nur eine Steigerungsform, den Elativ.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. absolut höchste Stufe der Steigerung der Adjektive; der Elativ wird im Deutschen durch den absoluten Superlativ oder besonders durch Adverbien ausgedrückt 2. unter anderem in den finnisch-ugrischen Sprachen ein Kasus der Richtung von innen nach außen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Elativ
- Elativs genitive
- Elative plural
- Elativen dative definite plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Elativ?
- /ˈeːlaˌtiːf/
- [ˈeːlatiːf]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Elativ
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Elativ in German?
Elativ appears about once in every 50 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).