demonstrative
/dɪˈmɒnstɹətɪv/dih-MAHN-struh-tiv
/dɪˈmɑnstɹətɪv/dih-MAHN-struh-tiv
Meaningshowing clearly
Common meaning: openly showing feeling
- dedown, away, off; undoing
- monstrto point out, showLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1162 · scan
- atverb or adjective ending: to make, having
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘down, away, off’ + ‘to point out, show’ → demonstrative
Journey through time
- Latinmōnstrō, -āre‘to point out, show’
- Middle Englishdemonstratifsource
- Englishdemonstrate‘to show clearly’
- Englishformed in English from demonstratedemonstrative‘openly showing feeling’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from demonstrate + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DEMONSTRATE, p.160 · scan
Roots
- mōnstrō, -āre Latin “to point out, show”
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