interrogative
English
Etymology
From Late Latin interrogātīvus, equivalent to interrogate + -ive.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɪn.təˈɹɒɡ.ə.tɪv/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file)
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˌɪn.təˈɹɑ.ɡə.tɪv/, [ˌɪn.təˈɹɑ.ɡə.ɾɪv]
Audio (General American): (file)
- (Australia) IPA(key): /ˌɪn.təˈɹɔɡ.ə.tɪv/, [ˌɪn.təˈɹɔɡ.ə.ɾɪv]
Adjective
interrogative (comparative more interrogative, superlative most interrogative)
- Pertaining to inquiry; questioning.
- Synonyms: examining, inquiring, investigative
- He took on an interrogative tone of voice.
- 1847, Charles Sealsfield, Rambleton: A Romance of Fashionable Life in New-York during the Great Speculation of 1836, →OCLC, page 127:
- Thus speaking, the good man regarded his lady with an interrogative look. "I do n't know, dear!" she replied kindly, and sighing again.
- (grammar) Asking or denoting a question.
- Coordinate terms: assertoric, imperative
- an interrogative phrase
- an interrogative pronoun
- 1877, William Dwight Whitney, Essentials of English Grammar for the Use of Schools, §470:
- The regular place of the interrogative word, of whatever kind, is at the beginning of the sentence, or as near it as possible.
- 2021 October 5, Gessica Puccini, “Lang Belta: the Belter language from SYFY/Amazon’s The Expanse”, in Lingoblog[1], archived from the original on 20 May 2026:
- An interrogative particle ke is placed at the end of a question. […] The interrogative words are placed at the beginning of the sentence
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
asking or denoting a question
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Noun
interrogative (plural interrogatives)
- (grammar) A word (pronoun, pronominal adjective, or adverb) implying interrogation, or used for asking a question: why, who, when, etc.
- 2021 October 5, Gessica Puccini, “Lang Belta: the Belter language from SYFY/Amazon’s The Expanse”, in Lingoblog[2], archived from the original on 20 May 2026:
- When question words are used, it is not necessary to add the ke particle, as it is already embedded in the interrogative
- (typography, archaic) A question mark ⟨?⟩.
- Synonym: see question mark
- 1824, J. Johnson, Typographia:
- There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative.
- 1842, F. Francillon, An Essay on Punctuation, page 9:
- Whoever introduced the several points, it seems that a full-point, a point called come, answering to our colon-point, a point called virgil answering to our comma-point, the parenthesis-points and interrogative-point, were used at the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century.
- (rare) A question; an interrogation.
- 1819, Sir Walter Scott, A Legend of Montrose, section XII:
- "Who are you, sir, and what is your business?" demanded the Marquis... "That is a fair interrogative, my lord," answered Dalgetty.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
a word implying interrogation
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See also
- redditive (grammar)
References
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “interrogative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
French
Pronunciation
Adjective
interrogative
- feminine singular of interrogatif
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
interrogative
- inflection of interrogativ:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Italian
Adjective
interrogative f pl
- feminine plural of interrogativo
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
Etymology tree
From interrogātīvus (“interrogative”) + -ē.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ɪn.tɛr.rɔ.ɡaːˈtiː.weː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [in.ter.ro.ɡaˈtiː.ve]
Adverb
interrogātīvē (comparative interrogātīvius, superlative interrogātīvissimē, adjective interrogātīvus)
- interrogatively
- Synonym: interroganter
Related terms
References
- “interrogative”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Categories:
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ive
- English 5-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
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- en:Grammar
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- en:Typography
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- en:Punctuation marks
- French 5-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French non-lemma forms
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- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German non-lemma forms
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- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian adjective forms
- Latin terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃reǵ-
- Latin terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₁én
- Latin terms suffixed with -e (adverb)
- Latin terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *h₁entér
- Latin 6-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin adverbs