Illative

//ɪˈleɪtɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A word or phrase that expresses an inference (such as for or therefore).
  2. 2
    An illation.
  3. 3
    The illative case, or a word in that case.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, or relating to an illation. not-comparable

    "an illative consequence or proposition"

  2. 2
    Of, or relating to the grammatical case that in some languages indicates motion towards or into something. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    expressing or preceding an inference wordnet
  2. 2
    resembling or dependent on or arrived at by inference wordnet
  3. 3
    relating to or having the nature of illation or inference wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
casedeductiveinferentialinferentialnominativeprepositional

Example

More examples

"an illative consequence or proposition"

Etymology

From Late Latin illātīvus (“illative”), from Latin illātus, perfect passive participle of inferō (“carry or bring into somewhere; bury; conclude”), from in + ferō (“bear, carry; suffer”).

Related phrases

illative caseshort illativeillative case

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.