receptive

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See also: réceptive

English

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Etymology

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From Late Middle English receptive, receptyue (capable of receiving something; acting as a receptacle),[1] borrowed from Medieval Latin receptivus (capable of receiving something), from Latin receptus (retaken, having been retaken; received, having been received) + -īvus (suffix added to the perfect passive participial stems of verbs, forming a deverbal adjective meaning ‘doing; related to doing’).[2] Receptus is the perfect passive participle of recipiō (to regain possession, take back; to recapture; to receive; to accept, undertake), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards; again’) + capiō (to capture, catch, take; to take hold, take possession; to take on; to contain, hold; to occupy; to possess; to receive, take in; to comprehend, understand; to captivate, charm) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-, *keh₂p- (to hold; to seize)).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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receptive (comparative more receptive, superlative most receptive)

  1. Capable of receiving something.
    Antonyms: irreceptive, nonreceptive, unreceptive
  2. Ready to receive something, especially new concepts or ideas.
    Synonyms: acceptive, susceptive
    Antonym: unreceptive
  3. (botany) Of a female flower or gynoecium: ready for reproduction; fertile.
  4. (neurology, psychology) Of, affecting, or pertaining to the understanding of language rather than its expression.
    Antonym: expressive
  5. (zoology) Of a female animal (especially a mammal): prepared to mate; in heat, in oestrus.
    Synonym: oestrual

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ receptī̆ve, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ receptive, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; receptive, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.