adjective
- of, relating to, or expressing illation; inferential: an illative word such as “therefore.”
- Grammar. noting a case, as in Finnish, whose distinctive function is to indicate place into or toward which.
noun
- Grammar. the illative case.
adjective
- of or relating to illation; inferential
- grammar denoting a word or morpheme used to signal inference, for example so or therefore
- (in the grammar of Finnish and other languages) denoting a case of nouns expressing a relation of motion or direction, usually translated by the English prepositions into or towardsCompare elative (def. 1)
noun
- grammar
- the illative case
- an illative word or speech element
“inferential,” 1610s, from Late Latin illativus, from Latin illatus “brought in,” used as past participle of inferre. As a noun from 1590s.