genitivegenitive

The story

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English genetif (‘pertaining to the genitive case; pertaining to the generation of offspring’) + English -ive (suffix meaning ‘relating or belonging to’ forming adjectives). Genetif is from Anglo-Norman genetif, genitif, and Middle French genetif, genitif (‘pertaining to the generation of offspring, procreative; (grammar) pertaining to the genitive case’) (modern French génitif), and from their etymon Latin genetīvus (‘pertaining to the generation of offspring; (grammar) pertaining to the genitive case’) (whence Late Latin genitivus), from genitus (‘begotten, engendered; produced’) + -īvus (suffix meaning ‘doing’ or ‘related to doing’ forming adjectives). Genitus is the perfect passive participle of gignō (‘to beget, give birth to; to produce, yield’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (‘to beget, give birth; to produce’). Latin genetīvus cāsus (or cāsus genetīvus, cāsus genitīvus (literally “grammatical case pertaining to birth or origin”)), was used to translate Koine Greek γενῐκή πτῶσις (genĭkḗ ptôsis, literally “inflection expressing a genus or kind”) which actually means “generic case”, though it refers to what is now called the genitive case.