What is "frequentative"

Frequentative \Fre*quent"a*tive\,

1. [L. frequentativus: cf. F. fr['e]quentatif.] (Gram.) Serving to express the frequent repetition of an action; as, a frequentative ver

2. -- n. A frequentative verb.

"verb which expresses repetition of action," 1520s, from French fréquentatif, from Late Latin frequentativus "serving to denote the repetition of an act," from Latin frequentat-, past participle stem of frequentare "visit regularly; do frequently, repeat," from frequentem (see frequent (adj.)).

a. (context grammar English) Serving to express repetition of an action. n. (context grammar English) Refers to a subclass of imperfective aspect verbs that denote a repeated action, no longer productive in English, but found in e.g. Finnish, Latin, Russian, and Turkish.

In grammar, a frequentative form ( abbreviated freq. or fr.) of a word is one that indicates repeated action. The frequentative form can be considered a separate but not completely independent word called a frequentative. The frequentative is no longer productive in English, but it still is some languages, such as Finno-Ugric languages ( Finnish or Hungarian), Balto-Slavic ( Lithuanian, Russian and Polish), Turkic etc.,