evitative

English

Etymology

From Latin ēvītāre (“to avoid”), from ē- (“out”) + vītāre (“to shun”).

Adjective

evitative (not comparable)

1. (grammar) grammatically expressing the notion that something is avoided or feared: a grammatical mood found in some Australian Aboriginal languages.

   Synonym: aversive

   • 1986, Language‎^[1], Linguistic Society of America:

     The non-past non-evitative potential corresponds both to the English indicative future and to all imperatives (including jussive and hortatory imperatives); the evitative is used to mark future events that are feared or to be avoided , and corresponds to English "lest..." constructions, except that it is not limited to subordinate clauses.

Derived terms

• evitative case