| 释义 |
possessive, a. (n.)|pəˈzɛsɪv|
[ad. L. possessīvus, in grammar (Quintil.): see possess v. and -ive. So F. possessif, -ive (15th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
A. adj.
1. Gram. Denoting possession; qualifying a thing (or person) as belonging to some other.
possessive pronoun (possessive adjective), a word derived from a personal or other pronoun, and expressing that the thing (or person) denoted by the noun which it qualifies belongs to the person (or thing) denoted by the pronoun from which it is derived. possessive case, a name for the genitive case in modern English, ending (in nouns) in 's, and expressing the same relation as that expressed by a possessive pronoun.
(The name possessive pron. is sometimes restricted to the absolute possessives mine, thine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, the adjectival forms my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their, being distinguished as possessive adjectives. Both classes originate in or are derived from the genitive or possessive case of the personal pronouns.)
1530Palsgr. Introd. 41 Where as we use our pronownes possessyves. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xxvi. 1 The piththynesse of the Pronoune possessive (my) is to be noted. 1668Wilkins Real Char. 305 Modifications of Pronouns... Possessive, denoting a relation of Propriety or Possession unto the person or thing spoken of,..as I, Mine; Who, Whose. 1712Steele Spect. No. 461 ⁋3 The Poet..lets a Possessive Pronoun go without a Substantive. 1763Lowth Eng. Gram. 25 This Case answers to the Genitive Case in Latin, and may still be so called; though perhaps more properly the Possessive Case. 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 259 One substantive governs another, signifying a different thing, in the possessive or genitive case. 1870Helfenstein Comp. Gram. Teut. Lang. 199 The New Teutonic pronouns take the inflexions of the strong declension of the adjective, where they are used as possessive adjectives, as Germ. mein, meine, mein, gen. meines, meiner, meines. 1876Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 21) §73 The apostrophe in the possessive case singular marks that the vowel of the syllabic suffix has been lost.
2. a. Of or pertaining to possession; indicating possession. Also, showing a desire to possess or to retain what one possesses. (In quot. 1578 in sense corresp. to possession 2.)
1560Rolland Crt. Venus i. 764 Greit Aduocat with power possessiue. 1578Let. Pat. to Sir H. Gilbert in Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 175 All such our subiects and others, as shall from time to time hereafter aduenture themselues in the sayd iourneys or voyages habitatiue or possessiue. 1635Quarles Embl. v. ix. 277 What meane these liv'ries and possessive keyes? 1889Mrs. R. Jocelyn Distracting Guest II. vii. 129 His manner was kind and considerate..; perhaps a trifle too possessive; but I rejoiced just then in that very possessiveness. 1924E. O'Neill Desire under Elms i. iv, in Compl. Wks. II. 164 Eben..stares around him with glowing, possessive eyes... It's purty! It's damned purty! It's mine! 1931― Hunted 1, in Mourning becomes Electra (1932) 121 You know how possessive Vinnie is with Orin. She's always been jealous of you. I warn you she'll do everything she can to keep him from marrying you. 1958P. Gibbs Curtains of Yesterday xx. 170 One of those possessive women who wants to grab everything within reach. 1977C. Storr Tales from Psychiatrist's Couch x. 104 A classical case of the possessive Jewish Mum... She didn't like the boy to go out of the house without telling her.
b. Having the quality or character of possessing; holding, or being in, possession.
1838Lytton Leila ii. i, The life of the heir-apparent to the life of the king-possessive is as the distinction between enchanting hope and tiresome satiety. 1880R. Broughton Sec. Th. iii. x, Her eye, free and possessive, wanders widely round.
B. n. Gram. ellipt. (a) for poss. pron. or adj.; (b) for poss. case.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict. B iv b, Of pronounes some are primitiues... Some are deriuatiues, called also possessiues. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Possessives in Grammar, are such Adjectives as signifie the Possession of, or Property in some Thing. 1755Johnson Dict., Gram., The possessive of the first person is my, mine, our, ours. 1876Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 21) §68 The noun in the possessive is in the attributive relation to the noun which stands for what is possessed. Ibid. §142 Their retained a substantive force after the other possessives had become pronominal adjectives. |