adj.
- of vital importance.
- giving an authoritative command.
▸Grammar denoting the mood of a verb that expresses a command or exhortation, as in come here!
n.
an essential or urgent thing.
▸a factor that makes something necessary.
Derivative
- imperatival
/ɪmˌpɛrəˈtʌɪv(ə)l/
adj. - imperatively adv.
- imperativeness n.
Etymology
ME: from late L. imperativus (lit. ‘specially ordered’), from imperare ‘to command’, from in- ‘towards’ + parare ‘make ready’.
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