ablative absolute


noun Latin Grammar.

a construction not dependent upon any other part of the sentence, consisting of a noun and a participle, noun and adjective, or two nouns, in which both members are in the ablative case, as Latin viā factā, “the road having been made.”

Origin of ablative absolute

First recorded in 1520–30

Words nearby ablative absolute

British Dictionary definitions for ablative absolute

ablative absolute

noun

an absolute construction in Latin grammar in which a governor noun and a modifier in the ablative case function as a sentence modifier; for example, hostibus victis, "the enemy having been beaten"