adj. Of, relating to, or being the grammatical case indicating a state of being or an existence in a particular capacity or state in some languages, as in Finnish professorina, "as a professor." n. 1. The essive case. 2. A word or form in the essive case. [Finnish essiivi, from New Latin essīvus : Latin esse, to be; see es- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + Latin -īvus, -ive.] |
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