Word.ws English Dictionary

catenative

/ˈkæ.tə.nə.tɪv/US/ˈkæ.tə.nə.tɪv/

catenative adjective: having the ability to catenate, or form chains.

Adjective

catenative (not comparable)

  1. Having the ability to catenate, or form chains.
    • In this section we shall investigate some of the basic properties of D0L systems that generate locally catenative sequences. These locally catenative D0L systems form one of the mathematically most natural subclasses of the class of D0L systems.1980, Grzegorz Rozenberg, Arto Salomaa, The Mathematical Theory of L Systems, page 20
    • Nonfinite complements which refer to a time before that of the main or catenative predicator are exclusively expressed by {-ing} forms (e.g. I remember doing it; She admits going; They deny being there).2004, Stephan Gramley, Kurt-Michael Pätzold, A Survey of Modern English, 2nd edition, page 135

Noun

catenative (plural catenatives)

  1. A catenative verb.
    • There is a certain arbitrariness in the way catenatives work. For example, we can use the verb like with either a gerund or an infinitive as its object:[…].1982, Martha Kolln, Understanding English Grammar, page 229
    • Just as many catenatives are followed by the infinitive, so others take the gerund.2010, Peter Fenn, A Student's Advanced Grammar of English (SAGE), page 492

Examples of catenative in a sentence

  • An example of catenative construction of the infinitive has already been observed in (10), where the present infinitive λέγειν is used as a complement or object of the verb θέλοι.2009, Toshikazu S. Foley, Biblical Translation in Chinese and Greek: Verbal Aspect in Theory and Practice, page 213:
  • Unlike periphrastics, however, catenatives combine certain verbs (e.g., impersonal δεῖ) with an infinitive.2010, Stanley E. Porter, Jeffrey T. Reed, Matthew Brook O'Donnell, Fundamentals of New Testament Greek, page 351:
  • Sentences containing catenatives (e.g., gonna, wanna, haveta, etc.) have one proposition, coded by the main verb following these.2014, Paula Menyuk, Jacqueline W. Liebergott, Martin C. Schultz, Early Language Development in Full-term and Premature Infants, page 225:

Forms of catenative

pluralcatenatives

Origin of catenative

From Latin catēnātus (“chained”), from catēnāre, from catēna (“a chain”).

Words formed from catenative

Phrases with catenative

Questions about catenative

What does catenative mean?
Catenative means having the ability to catenate, or form chains.
How do you use catenative in a sentence?
An example of catenative construction of the infinitive has already been observed in (10), where the present infinitive λέγειν is used as a complement or object of the verb θέλοι.
What part of speech is catenative?
Catenative can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce catenative?
Catenative is pronounced /ˈkæ.tə.nə.tɪv/ (UK).

Words near catenative in the dictionary

  1. catenated
  2. catenates
  3. catenating
  4. catenation
  5. catenations
  6. catenative
  7. catenative verb
  8. catenative verbs
  9. catenatively
  10. catenatives
  11. catenativity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catenative (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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