ablative absolute

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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.”

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of ablative absolute

First recorded in 1520–30

Words nearby ablative absolute

à blanc, ablare, ablate, ablation, ablative, ablative absolute, ablator, ablaut, ablaze, able, able-bodied

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ablative absolute in a sentence

The first three lines might have been expressed by an ablative absolute in two words—Troia euersa.
The Oxford Book of Latin Verse|Various
This he remembered had interrupted the silent rehearsal of the sentence with the ablative absolute in it.
Princeton Stories|Jesse Lynch Williams
To-night I have a pressing engagement with the Ablative Absolute.
Daddy Long-Legs|Jean Webster
Try to remember, Quinlan, what I told you about the use of the ablative absolute.
Short Sixes|H. C. Bunner

As for the ablative absolute, its reconstruction and regeneration have been the inspiring principle of my studious manhood.
Average Jones|Samuel Hopkins Adams

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"

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012