-ative

suff.

Of, relating to, or associated with: talkative.

[Middle English, from Old French -atif, -ative, from Latin -ātīvus, from -ātus, past participle suff.; see -ate¹.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-ative

suffix forming adjectives

of, relating to, or tending to: authoritative; decorative; informative.

[from Latin -ātīvus, from ātus -ate¹ + īvus -ive]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

-ative

a suffix used to form adjectives from verbs ending in -ate¹ (regulative); on this model, used to form adjectives from other stems (normative).

[< Latin -ātīvus=-āt(us) -ate¹ + -īvus -ive]

References in periodicals archive ?

A referendum on whether or not the UK should remain in the EU or leave was promised by the Conserva -atives in their general election manifesto earlier this year.