| nominative |
| Definition: The grammatical case that indicates the subject of the verb. Note: English normally expresses this with word order. In highly inflected languages, such as Latin, this is shown by modifying word endings. |
| Example: In the sentence Bob ate Dick, the word order tells us that Bob is the subject and Dick is the object. |
| Etymology: The word derives via Middle French from the Latin nominativus, pertaining to naming. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The term's first OED citation is from 1387: "Þat ylond of Ynde hatte Tilis in þe nomenatyf caas; and þe ilond of occean hatte Tyle in þe nominatyf caas." (Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 327) |