What is "illative"

Illative \Il"la*tive\, n. An illative particle, as for, because.

Illative \Il"la*tive\, a. [L. illativus: cf. F. illatif.] Relating to, dependent on, or denoting, illation; inferential; conclusive; as, an illative consequence or proposition; an illative word, as then, therefore, etc.

Illative conversion (Logic), a converse or reverse statement of a proposition which in that form must be true because the original proposition is true.

Illative sense (Metaph.), the faculty of the mind by which it apprehends the conditions and determines upon the correctness of inferences.

"inferential," 1610s, from Late Latin illativus, from Latin illatus "brought in," used as past participle of inferre. As a noun from 1590s.

a. 1 of, or relating to an illation 2 (context grammar English) of, or relating to the grammatical case that in some languages indicates motion towards or into something n. 1 (context grammar English) a word or phrase that expresses an inference (such as ''therefore'') 2 an illation 3 (context grammar English) the illative case, or a word in that case

1. adj. relating to or having the nature of illation or inference; "the illative faculty of the mind" [syn: inferential]

2. resembling or dependent on or arrived at by inference; "an illative conclusion"; "inferential reasoning" [syn: inferential]

3. expressing or preceding an inference; "`therefore' is an illative word"