dative
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "dative", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "dative" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "dative" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
dative is anEnglishadj. It means: Denoting the case of a noun which expresses the remoter or indirect object, generally indicated in English by to or for with the objective. Pronounced /ˈdeɪtɪv/.
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Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dative |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adj |
| IPA | /ˈdeɪtɪv/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #57,323 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dative is 6 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdeɪtɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,323 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for dative in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin datīvus (“appropriate for giving”), itself from datus (the past participle of dō (“to give”)) + -īvus (“-ive”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is dative, spelled D-A-T-I-V-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Denoting the case of a noun which expresses the remoter or indirect object, generally indicated in English by to or for with the objective.
- 2In one’s gift; capable of being disposed of at will and pleasure, as an office or other privilege.
- 3Removable, as distinguished from perpetual; — said of an officer.
- 4Given by a judge, as distinguished from being cast upon a party by the law itself.
- 5Formed by two electrons contributed by one atom; see dative bond.
- 6Given in advance; not needed to be calculated.
Etymology
From Latin datīvus (“appropriate for giving”), itself from datus (the past participle of dō (“to give”)) + -īvus (“-ive”).
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #57,323 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index: