elative
/ɪˈleɪtɪv/noun, adjective
elative is spelled E-L-A-T-I-V-E: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, elative means “In Semitic languages, the “adjective degree of superiority”. In some languages such as Arabic, the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of elative is elatives.
How many letters and syllables are in elative?
| Letters | 7: E-L-A-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is elative?
Elative appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce elative?
- UK /ɪˈleɪtɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with elative?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as elative from its last stressed vowel (/eɪtɪv/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of elative
- elatives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does elative mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
In Semitic languages, the “adjective degree of superiority”. In some languages such as Arabic, the concepts of comparative and superlative degree of an adjective are merged into a single form, the elative. How this form is understood or translated depends upon context and definiteness. In the absence of comparison, the elative conveys the notion of “greatest”, “supreme.”
The elative of كَبِير (kabīr, “big”) is أَكْبَر (ʔakbar, “bigger/biggest, greater/greatest”).
- 2
In Finno-Ugric languages, one of the locative cases, expressing “out of,” or “from” as in Finnish talosta, Hungarian házból (“out of the house”). Its opposite is the illative case (“into”). In Finnish, the case form is used also to express "out of" or "proximity" in a figurative sense which in English is often conveyed by the word "about".
adjective
- 1
rareExalted; feeling elation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Elative in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does elative come from?
From Latin ēlātus (“exalted, lofty, high”) + -ive. Possibly borrowed from German, which has produced a great deal of pioneering Semitist literature, and where Elativ is a common term for absolute superlative in all languages.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).