Imperative

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ɪmˈpɛɹ.É™.tɪv/

Alternative forms

• abbreviation, grammar: imp., imper.

Origin

From Latin imperātīvus.

Full definition of imperative

Adjective

1. essentialIt is imperative that you come here right now.
2. (computing theory) Having a semantics that incorporates mutable variables.
3. (grammar) of, or relating to the imperative mood
4. Expressing a command; authoritatively or absolutely directive.imperative orders
• Bishop HallThe suits of kings are imperative.

Noun

1. (uncountable, grammar) The grammatical mood expressing an order (see jussive). In English, the imperative form of a verb is the same as that of the bare infinitive.The verbs in sentences like "Do it!" and "Say what you like!" are in the imperative.
2. (countable, grammar) A verb in imperative mood.
3. (countable) An essential action, a must: something which is imperative.Visiting Berlin is an imperative.
• 1 March 2014, Rupert Christiansen, English translations rarely sing, Anything grandiose or historically based tends to sound flat and banal when it reaches English, partly because translators get stuck between contradictory imperatives: juggling fidelity to the original sense with what is vocally viable, they tend to resort to a genteel fustian which lacks either poetic resonance or demotic realism, adding to a sense of artificiality rather than enhancing credibility.

Synonyms

• grammatical mood imperative mood

Derived terms

• first imperative Latin grammar
• second imperative Latin grammar
• categorical imperative

Coordinate terms

• (in grammar) assertoric, interrogative