| accusative case |
| Definition - The case that shows which noun is receiving the verb's action (i.e. the case that indicates the direct object of a transitive verb). |
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Example - It is almost extinct in Modern English, but there are a few remaining artifacts from Old English: (1) whom is the accusative form of who (2) the accusative forms of the personal pronouns: e.g. her is the accusative form of she and him is the accusative of he. |
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Etymology - The term derives from the Latin casus accusativus, the case of accusing. Note: It was coined by someone mistranslating the Greek phrase ptosis aitiatikem, the case of that which is caused. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation is from circa 1440: "The fourte case is accusatif case.' (Gesta Rom. (1879) 417) |
