comparative

From Middle English comparatif, from Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparātīvus, equivalent to comparātus, from comparāre (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -īvus.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpæɹətɪv/
• (General American) enPR: kəmʹpăr-ə-tĭv
  • (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpæɹətɪv/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpɛɹətɪv/

• Audio (New England, without the Mary–marry–merry merger):

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• Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger):

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• Hyphenation: com‧par‧a‧tive

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

1. Of or relating to comparison.

   He gave us a comparative example to illustrate how the human mind works.

   • 1773, James Burnett, Of the Origin and Progress of Language:

     that kind of animals that have the comparative faculty, by which they compare things together, deliberate and resolve.

2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.

   A comparative study between Homo Sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis.

   comparative anatomy

   • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 705–706:

     After all, it is undeniable that the B.R. standard coach scored highly in comparative trials with other European railway vehicles on the Continent a few years ago, so that B.R. civil engineers must share responsibility for any defects in its behaviour over here.

3. Approximated by comparison; relative.

   I've passed the test with comparative ease.

   • 2016 October 24, Owen Gibson, “Is the unthinkable happening – are people finally switching the football off?”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London:

     The Olympics, the weather and a comparative lack of heavyweight clashes so far this season have been cited as reasons for the drop in viewers.

   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences:

     The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.

   • 1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism:

     This bubble, […] by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.

4. (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137:

     And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.

comparative (plural comparatives)

2. (grammar) The degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb used when comparing two entities in terms of a certain property or a certain way of doing something. In English, the comparative of superiority is formed by adding the suffix -er or the word more (e.g. bigger, more fully); the comparative of equality, by adding the word as (e.g. as big, as fully); the comparative of inferiority, by adding the word less (e.g. less big, less fully).

   Synonym: comparative degree

   Hypernym: degree of comparison

   Hyponyms: comparative of superiority, comparative of equality, comparative of inferiority

   Coordinate terms: positive, superlative

3. (grammar) An adjective or adverb in the comparative degree.
4. (chiefly in the plural) Data used to make a comparison.
   • 2010, Barry Smith, Introductory Financial Accounting and Reporting, page 171:

     Investment ratios are positive. Comparative or trend data are required to draw final conclusions. The absence of comparatives and trend data constrains the conclusions.

5. (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.
   • c. 1608–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, “Four Playes, or Morall Representations, in One”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act ,:

     Gerrard ever was / His full comparative.

6. (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], line 67:

     Every beardless vain comparative.

• absolute superlative, relative superlative, comparative superlative
• contrastive
• elative

• “comparative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “comparative”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "comparative" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

• vampire taco

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.pa.ʁa.tiv/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

comparative

1. feminine singular of comparatif

comparative

1. feminine plural of comparativo

• comparivate, crepitavamo, imporcavate

comparātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of comparātīvus

• “comparative”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press