Comparative — Com*par a*tive, a. [L. comparativus: cf. F. comparatif.] 1. Of or pertaining to comparison. The comparative faculty. Glanvill. [1913 Webster] 2. Proceeding from, or by the method of, comparison; as, the comparative sciences; the comparative… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
comparative — com·par·a·tive /kəm par ə tiv/ adj: characterized by systematic comparison comparative contribution, which apportions according to...respective fault W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton com·par·a·tive·ly adv Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law.… … Law dictionary
comparative — [kəm par′ə tiv] adj. [ME < L comparativus] 1. that compares; involving comparison as a method, esp. in a branch of study [comparative linguistics] 2. estimated by comparison with something else; relative [a comparative success] 3. Gram.… … English World dictionary
comparative — mid 15c., from M.Fr. comparatif, from L. comparativus pertaining to comparison, from comparatus, pp. of comparare (see COMPARISON (Cf. comparison)). Originally grammatical; general sense is from c.1600; meaning involving different branches of a… … Etymology dictionary
comparative — [adj] approximate, close to allusive, analogous, approaching, by comparison, comparable, conditional, connected, contingent, contrastive, correlative, corresponding, equivalent, in proportion, like, matching, metaphorical, near, not absolute, not … New thesaurus
comparative — ► ADJECTIVE 1) measured or judged by comparison; relative. 2) involving comparison between two or more subjects or branches of science. 3) (of an adjective or adverb) expressing a higher degree of a quality, but not the highest possible (e.g.… … English terms dictionary
Comparative — For other uses, see Comparative (disambiguation). In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent… … Wikipedia
comparative — com|par|a|tive1 [kəmˈpærətıv] adj 1.) comparative comfort/freedom/wealth etc comfort etc that is quite good when compared to how comfortable, free, or rich etc something or someone else is = ↑relative ▪ After a lifetime of poverty, his last few… … Dictionary of contemporary English
comparative — [[t]kəmpæ̱rətɪv[/t]] comparatives 1) ADJ: ADJ n You use comparative to show that you are judging something against a previous or different situation. For example, comparative calm is a situation which is calmer than before or calmer than the… … English dictionary
comparative — 1 adjective 1 comparative comfort/freedom/wealth etc comfort, freedom etc that is fairly satisfactory when compared to another state of comfort etc: After a lifetime of poverty, his last few years were spent in comparative comfort. 2 comparative… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
