Definition of "genitive" in English

adjective

1. (archaic) Of or pertaining to the generation of offspring; generative, procreative, reproductive.

2. Of a grammatical case: in an inflected language (such as Greek or Latin), expressing that a thing denoted by a word is related to a thing denoted by another word as its origin or possessor; and in an uninflected language (such as English), expressing origin or possession; possessive.

   • dependent genitive
   • independent genitive
   • The student who had taken a German exam realised his error afterwards. He had used the dative case instead of the genitive case to show possession.

3. Of, pertaining to, or used in the genitive case.

noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Ellipsis of genitive case (“a grammatical case used to express a relationship of origin or possession”).

2. (countable) A word inflected in the genitive case, and which thus indicates origin or possession.