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单词 infinitive
释义

infinitiveadj.n.

/ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/
Forms: Also Middle English infenitife.
Etymology: < Latin infīnītīvus unlimited, indefinite, infinitive, < in- (in- prefix4) + fīnītīvus defining, definite. Compare French infinitif, -ive (14–15th cent.).
A. adj.
1. Grammar. The name of that form of a verb which expresses simply the notion of the verb without predicating it of any subject. Usually classed as a ‘mood’, though strictly a substantive with certain verbal functions, esp. those of governing an object, and being qualified by an adverb.(Called by Quintilian and Priscian infinitus modus, by Diomedes infinitivus ‘because it has not definite persons and numbers, whence it has also been called by some, impersonativus and insignativus’. In the short grammar of Dionysius Thrax ( b.c. 80), it is called ἀπαρέμϕατος, i.e. without modification of sense, unmodified.)In modern English, the infinitive has the simple uninflected form of the verb; agreeing in this respect with the imperative, and (except in the verb be), with the first person singular, and the whole plural, of the present indicative. In Old English, the infinitive had (in the nominative-accusative case) the suffix -an, Middle English -en, -e; it had also a dative form in -anne, Middle English, -enne, -ene, -en, -e. The latter is sometimes fancifully called by modern grammarians, the gerundial or gerundive infinitive, as answering in some of its functions to the Latin gerund or gerundive. (It answers more to the Latin supine.) The Old English nominative-accusative infinitive is the source of the (now less frequent) simple infinitive, as in ‘we saw him come’, ‘they need not come’. The dative-infinitive is formally the source of the infinitive with to, and functionally the origin of this in such uses as ‘he went to see the fight’ (‘infinitive of purpose’), ‘it was easy to see’ (‘adverbial infinitive’); but to is now prefixed also to the nominative-accusative infinitive, where Old English had the simple form in -an, as in ‘to see is to believe’, ‘he likes to see it’. See to prep.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > mood > [adjective] > infinitive
infinitive1520
infinitival1870
infinite1871
1520 R. Whittington Uulgaria sig. A.ivv Quis qui is..gouerned..somtyme of the infinytyue mode folowynge.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 84 The infinitive mode whiche they use whan we use to put to before a verbe.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Firste I doe specifie th' Infinitiue mode, Aimer, to loue: Courir, to run.
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iv. vi. 445 That which is called the Infinitive Mode, should according to the true Analogy of that speech be stiled a Participle Substantive.
1876 C. P. Mason Eng. Gram. (ed. 21) §191 The preposition to is not an essential part of the infinitive mood, nor an invariable sign of it.
1889 W. R. Morfill Gram. Russ. Lang. 37 There are three moods, the infinitive, indicative, and imperative.
1889 W. R. Morfill Gram. Russ. Lang. 39 Each verb has two stems, firstly, the infinitive stem, and, secondly, the present stem.
2. ? Infinite, endless: in quot. c1470 as adv. Without end, in perpetuity. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adverb]
always fortha700
alwayeOE
oeOE
everOE
buten endea1000
echelichec1175
till doomsdayc1175
to timea1200
perdurablyc1275
in ayea1300
without endc1330
anytimea1375
for ay and oc1374
continually1382
perpetuallyc1385
ay-forthc1390
everlastinglyc1390
perpetualc1392
eternallyc1393
endlessa1400
in (also for, to) perpetuitya1400
always?c1425
without timec1425
endlesslya1450
sempiternlyc1450
infinitivec1470
aylastinglyc1475
everlastingc1475
incessantly1481
in saecula saeculorum1481
sempiternally1509
all days1533
for altogether1542
constantly1567
interminate?1567
incorruptibly1579
perpetuously1612
in perpetuum1613
eternal1614
unterminably1631
unfadinglya1672
unendingly1674
for a constancy1710
perennially1729
tarnally1790
imperishably1795
indefectibly1837
immortally1858
fadelessly1861
c1470 J. Hardyng Chron. cv. 5 To Peter and Pole he graunted infenitife The Roome pence then of all Englande, As Flores saieth, as I can vnderstande.
B. n.
1. Grammar. The infinitive ‘mood’ or form of a verb. cleft or split infinitive, an infinitive with an adverb between to and the verbal part, as in ‘to carefully search’. gerundial infinitive: see under A. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > mood > [noun] > infinitive
infinitive1530
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > infinitive
infinitive1530
supine1830
to-infinitive1946
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 31 His preterit participle, and his present infynityve.
1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens 32 [Lingua franca] an ill favour'd kind of Italian that makes use of the Infinitive of every Verb, to express all the Tenses and Moods.
1751 J. Harris Hermes i. viii. 163 The Latin and modern Grammarians have called Verbs under this Mode, from this their indefinite nature, Infinitives.
1871 H. J. Roby Gram. Lat. Lang. ii. xvi. 183 Two indeclinable substantives, called Infinitives (or the Infinitive Mood).
1871 R. Morris Hist. Outl. Eng. Accidence §290 The infinitive had a dative form expressed by the suffix -e, and governed by the preposition to. This is sometimes called the gerundial infinitive: it is also equivalent to Lat. supines.
1871 R. Morris Hist. Outl. Eng. Accidence §290 The dative infinitive assumed the form of the simple infinitive as early as the twelfth century.
1892 H. Sweet New Eng. Gram. §293 The infinitive, which is a noun-verbal, has nothing in common with the moods of finite verbs.
1893 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) 56 274/2 My paper on the cleft infinitive, printed in the American Journal of Philology.
1897 Academy 3 Apr. 371/2 Are our critics aware that Byron is the father of their split infinitive? ‘To slowly trace’, says the noble poet, ‘the forest's shady scene’.
2. An infinite or endless amount: an infinity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > infiniteness > [noun] > infinity or that which is infinite
infinity1377
infinite1587
infinitive1595
incomprehensibility1610
immensitya1631
infinitude1667
infinitum1682
unmeasured1812
endlessness1820
unconditioned1829
illimitable1884
out and out1890
boundless1909
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > infinity of amount > an infinite amount
infinityc1480
infinite1563
infinitive1595
no end1623
infinitude1667
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile Ded. Earl Sussex Great Lord, to whom infinitiues of fame Flock like night starres about the siluer Moone.
1595 G. Markham Most Honorable Trag. Sir R. Grinuile sig. C Fie, that infinitiues of forces can, Nor may effect what one conceit fulfills.

Compounds

General attributive.
infinitive-adjunct n.
ΚΠ
1957 R. W. Zandvoort Handbk. Eng. Gram. (new ed.) i. i. 9 In the fourth example the infinitive stands in apposition to the noun; in the fifth the infinitive adjunct is semi-adverbial.
infinitive-splitter n.
ΚΠ
1927 Glasgow Herald 1 Nov. 8/7 A competition..to discover the most distinguished infinitive-splitters.
infinitive-splitting n.
ΚΠ
1926 H. W. Fowler Dict. Mod. Eng. Usage 447/1 They were obsessed by fear of infinitive-splitting.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.c1470
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更新时间:2024/9/21 8:14:29