minorative
UK/ˈmaɪnəɹeɪtɪv/
minorative adjective: that diminishes or attenuates.
Adjective
minorative (not comparable)
- That diminishes or attenuates
- Gently laxative.
- Clysters sometymes do supplye the rowme of minoratyve medicines.1543, Bartholomew Traheron (translator), Joannes de Vigo (author), The Most Excellent Workes of Chirurgerye, book IX, addendum, page 225
- Nothing but minorative apozems should be ordered.1747, Jean Astruc (author; translator unknown), Academical Lectures on Fevers, page 112
Noun
minorative (plural minoratives)
- A gently laxative medicine.
- When […] wee feare lest nature faint before perfect concoction, we may sometimes use a gentle minorative.1633, James Hart, Κλινική; or, The Diet of the Diseased, book III, chapter xiv, page 284
- Others give minoratives more frequently.1747, Jean Astruc (author; translator unknown), Academical Lectures on Fevers, page 232
Forms of minorative
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | minoratyve |
| Noun | |
| plural | minoratives |
Origin of minorative
From the late-Middle French minoratif, minorative (“that diminishes or lessens”, of a medicine “mildly laxative”; as a noun “a mild laxative”), from minorer (“to diminish the importance [of]”). Equivalent to minorate (“diminish”, “lessen”) + -ive. Compare the post-Classical (i.e. 9th C.) Latin minōrātīvus.
Questions about minorative
- What does minorative mean?
- Minorative means that diminishes or attenuates.
- What part of speech is minorative?
- Minorative can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce minorative?
- Minorative is pronounced /ˈmaɪnəɹeɪtɪv/ (UK).
Words near minorative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: minorative (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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Cite this entry: “minorative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/minorative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.