inchoative
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inchoative
- /ɪnˈkəʊ.ə.tɪv/ UK
- /ɪnˈkoʊətɪv/ US
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin inchoātīvus, formed by metathesis from incohātīvus, from incohō (“to begin”). Compare French inchoatif.
adjective
- Initial; as yet unformed; inchoate. [T]he day-Star […] ſhall be riſen in our hearts; vvhereof theſe acts of our intellect ſeem to be ſome inchoative or imperfect rays, […]
- Aspectually indicating that a state is about to be entered or is in the process of being entered. The inchoative (inceptive) aspect of a verb expresses the beginning of an action. Example: He is beginning to crawl.
- In Catalan, being a member of a class of third-conjugation verbs (e.g. servir) in which a syllable -eix- (or otherwise depending on dialect), derived from the Latin inchoative but now without meaning, is inserted into certain conjugations (e.g. serveixo).
noun inchoatives
- An inchoative construction.
Translations
Talk about this word "inchoative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/inchoative. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. inchoative. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/inchoative "inchoative." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/inchoative.Cite this
@misc{inchoative_2026,
title = {inchoative},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/inchoative},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
