Appendix:English collateral adjectives

A collateral adjective is an adjective that is identified with a noun but not derived from it. For example, the
word bovine is considered the adjectival equivalent of the word cow, but is derived from the Latin word for
cow. In some cases both the noun and the adjective are borrowed, but from different languages, such as air
(French) and aerial (Latin). The term collateral refers to these two sides in the relationship.

Collateral adjectives are sometimes called suppletive adjectives or irregular adjectives because there are so few
truly suppletive or irregular adjectives in English.

(Examples of truly suppletive adjectives are the comparative forms good–better, bad–worse,
many/much–more, few–less, and the ordinal numbers one–first and two–second. Examples
of truly irregular adjectives are the comparative/superlative forms better–best, worse–worst,
more–most, less–least, far–farther/further–farthest/furthest, and the ordinals three–third, five–
fifth.)

Many collateral adjectives enter the language because English regularly substitutes attributive use of the noun
itself (or of a verbal noun from a related verb) for use of an adjective, so true adjectives are often missing.
Adjectives are then borrowed from Greek or Latin for technical and academic usage, where true adjectives are
preferred over attributive use of nouns. Because of this, collateral adjectives tend to be more technical or
academic in tone than their corresponding nouns.

Some collateral adjectives have a related noun which may be a near synonym for the noun in question. For
example, one adjective for business is commercial, which also has a cognate noun commerce. Because there is
no one-to-one correspondence between adjective and noun in English, and there is no regular derivation that
they upset, they are not actually suppletive.

Some nouns have both collateral and derived adjectives. For example, for the noun father there is derived
fatherly alongside collateral paternal, and for day there is daily alongside diurnal. Note that while fatherly and
paternal are near synonyms, daily and diurnal are not. In many such cases where the collateral and derived
adjectives are synonyms or near synonyms, the derived adjective is the word in everyday use, while the
collateral one is either technical or used for effect.

Collateral adjectives may be distantly cognate with the noun. In the cases "cow – bovine" and "father –
paternal", for example, the Latin roots "bov-" and "pater-" are related to English words "cow" and "father"
through Proto-Indo-European. In the case of "air – aerial", the French word "air" came from the Latin root
"aer", and this is the root of "aerial", "aeronautics", and "aerodynamics".

In other cases, the adjective might have been regularly derived from the noun in another language, and then
both words were borrowed separately into English.

See also:

Appendix:Animals lists many animal collateral adjectives.

A–B–C-D–E–F–G–H–I–J–K–L–M–N–O–P–Q–R–S–T–U–W–X–Y–Z
In the following, in everyday English speech or writing, a derived adjective that is much more likely to be used
than any of the collateral alternatives is presented in square brackets.

A
abdomen (belly) – ventral, alvine, abdominal
abdominal cavity – coeliac/celiac, visceral
actor, acting – histrionic (more commonly means overly theatrical, applied not just to actors),
thespian (often facetious), [actorly]
adjective – epithetic, adjectival
aesthetic pleasure – sensuous
aging, the aged – geriatric, gerontic
agouti – dasyproctid, dasyproctine
agriculture – geoponic, georgic(al), agricultural
air – pneumatic, aerial
airtight – hermetic
alphabet – abecedarian, alphabetic
amber – succinic
animal – zoic, zoological
ankle bone – astragalar
ant – formic, formicarian, formicid, myrmecological
ant-eater – myrmecophagous
antelope – antilopine
antimony – stibial
ape (or monkey) – simian, apish
Aphrodite – Cytherean
apple – malic, pomaceous
aristocracy – genteel, aristocratic
arm – brachial
armpit – axillary
arrangement – tactic
arrow – sagittal
ash (cinders) – cinerary
ass (animal) – asinine
aunt – materteral
author – auctorial, authorial

B
baby – infantile (often derogatory, except in medical usage); see also child/children
back (anatomy) – dorsal, lumbar (lower part of back)
back of the head (also called the occiput) – occipital
badger – meline
barber – tonsorial
bat (animal) – chiropteran, cheiropterous, vespertilian
bathroom – lavatorial, lavatory
baths, bathing – balneal
bear – ursine
bee – apian
beeswax – cerotic
beetle – coleopterous
beginning – initial, incipient
beginning to exist, recently come into existence – nascent
beginning, first created or developed – primordial
bell (instrument) – tintinnabulary
bile – cholic
bird – avian, ornithic, volucrine
bird of prey – raptorial
birth – natal, parturient
birthday – genethliac, [birthday]
bishop – episcopal
bizarre – grotesque
Black Sea – euxine
bladder – cystic, vesical
blood – h(a)emal, h(a)ematic, h(a)emic, h(a)ematal, sanguineous
blood vessels – vascular
boat – see ship
bodily motion – gestic
body – corporal, corporeal, physical, somatic, carnal, [bodily]
bone – osseous, osteal, osteoid, [bony]
book – bibliographic
boxing – pugilistic, fistic
brain – cerebral, cerebric, encephalic
branch – ramal, ramiform
branching patterns – ramiferous, cladistic
bread – panary
breast – mammary, mammilary
breastbone – sternal
breeding season – nuptial
bridge – pontine
bright, dazzlingly radiant – fulgent
brother – fraternal
bud – blastous
bug – hemipteral, hemipteran, hemipterous
building – edificial
bull – taurine
burdensome – onerous
business – commercial
butter – butyric, [buttery]
butterfly – papilionaceous, lepidopterous (also applies to moths)
buttock – gluteal
C
calm – halcyon
camel – cameline
car – automotive, motor (attributive)
caribou – rangiferine
carp – cyprine
cat – feline, [catty], [kittenish]
chalk – cretaceous
charity – eleemosynary
cheese – caseous, [cheesy]
chest (anatomy) – thoracic, pectoral
child – juvenile, puerile (usually derogatory); see also baby, [childish], [childlike]
chin – mental, genial
China – Sinitic, [Chinese]
china – ceramic
church – ecclesiastical
citizen – civic
city – urban, civic, metropolitan
clock – horological
cod – gadoid, gadine
coin (or medal) – numismatic
cold, perpetually cold location – hyperborean
cold, extremely cold and/or icy – gelid
color – tinctorial
comb – ctenoid
combative, quarrelsome, inclined to fight – pugnacious
comfortably spacious, roomy – commodius
consisting of a confused mixture – farraginous
conspicuous, prominent, notable significance – salient
cooking – culinary, gastronomic
copper – cupric
count – comital
countryside – rural, rustic, bucolic, agrestic
courts – forensic, juridical
covered with fine hairs or down – puberulent
cow – bovine
cowardly, despicable – caitiff
crane-fly – tipulid
cricket – crickety
crocodile – crocodilian
cross – cruciate, cruciform
crossword – cruciverbal
crow – corvine
D
dance – terpsichorean
daughter (or son) – filial
dawn – auroral (see also twilight)
day – diurnal, [daily]
dean – decanal
deer – cervine, rucervine (swamp deer)
delicate, heavenly or spiritual – ethereal
desert – xeric
devil – diabolic/diabolical, satanic, [devilish]
difficult to comprehend – recondite, abstruse
diminutive, short (human) – homuncular
disloyalty – perfidious
disobedient, stubbornly so – contumacious
divination, prophecy ability – mantic
dog – canine, doggish
dog days of summer – canicular
dolphin – cetacean
dove – columbine, dovish (poitics)
dream – oneiric
drinking – potatory
drowsiness – lethargic, soporific
drowsy period preceding sleep – hypnagogic
duck – anatine
dull, lacking liveliness – vapid
dusk – see twilight

E
eagle – aquiline
ear – aural, otic
east – oriental, [easterly]
Easter – paschal
elbow joint – anconoid
end – final, terminal
equinox – equinoctial
evening – vespertine
eye – optic, ocular, ophthalmic
eyelid – palpebral
hedgehog – erinaceous

F
fat – adipic, sebaceous
 father – paternal, [fatherly]
finch – fringilline (also applies to other small birds)
finger (or toe) – digital
fir – abietic
fire – igneous (now mostly refers to rock formed by solidification of magma), [fiery]
fish – piscatorial, piscine, ichthyic
flesh – carnal
flood – diluvial, diluvian, clysmian
fog – brumous, [foggy]
foot (anatomy) – pedal
forest – sylvan
forestry – arboricultural, silvicultural
four – quaternary
fox – vulpine
France – Gallic [French]
frog – ranine, batrachian (also applies to toads)

G
garden – horticultural
gemstone – lapidary
ghost – spectral
Glasgow – Glaswegian
glass – vitreous, [glassy]
goat – caprine, hircine
god – divine, [god-like]
gold – auric, [golden]
goose – anserine
governor – gubernatorial
grass – gramineous, [grassy]
Greece – Hellenic, Greek
guardian – tutelary

H
hair – pilar
hand – manual
hare – leporine, lagomorphic (also applies to rabbits and pikas)
hearing – auditory, aural
heart – cardiac
heat – thermal, caloric
heather – ericaceous
hip (anatomy) – sciatic
home – domestic, [homey]
horse – equine
 hospital – nosocomial (referring to something acquired or occurring in a hospital)
Halifax – Haligonian

I
ice – glacial, [icy]
Ireland – Hibernian, [Irish]
iron – ferrous
island – insular

J
jail – carceral
jaw (anatomy) – maxillary, gnathic

K
kid – see child
kidney – renal, nephritic, nephric
king – regal, [royal]

L
lake – lacustrine
law – legal
lead (metal) – plumbeous, leaden
Leeds – Leodensian
left (direction) – sinistral, left-hand
leg (anatomy) – crural
letter (missive) – epistolary
life – vital, [living]
light (physics) – photic, optic(al), luminous
lion – leonine
lip (anatomy) – labial
liver (anatomy) – hepatic
lizard – saurian
love (sexual) – amatory, amorous
lung – pulmonary

M
machine – mechanical
man (male) – masculine, virile (particularly emphasising strength and vigour), [manly]
man (human) – human, anthropic, personal
marble – marmoreal
 marriage – nuptial, conjugal, connubial, hymeneal
mass – specific, massive
meal – prandial
meaning – semantic
milk – lactic, [milky]
mind – mental
mirror – specular
mist – brumous, [misty]
Monaco – Monégasque
money – pecuniary, financial, [monetary]
monkey (or ape) – simian
moon – lunar
morning – matinal
moth (or butterfly) – lepidopterous
mother – maternal, [motherly]
mouse – murine
mouth – oral

N
name – nominal
neck – cervical
nephew – nepotal
nerve (anatomy) – neural, nervous
Netherlands – Dutch
night – nocturnal
north – boreal, northerly, septentrional
nose – nasal, rhinal
noun – nominal

O
ocean – see sea, oceanic
oil – oleic, [oily]
owl – strigine, owlish

P
parish – parochial (now usually means narrow-minded)
peacock – pavonine
pearl – margaric
penis – phallic, penile
(the) people – popular, demotic, [folkish]
pig – porcine, [piggish]
plant – botanic
 pottery – ceramic

Q
queen (rexina, regina) – reginal

R
rabbit – lagomorphic (also applies to hares and pikas)
rain – pluvial, [rainy]
religion – theological, [religious]
rib (anatomy) – costal
right (direction) – dextral
river – fluvial
river bank – riparian

S
San Marino – Sammarinese
sailor – nautical
Scotland – Caledonian, [Scottish], [Scotch], [Scots]
sea – maritime, marine, pelagic
seal (animal/pinniped) – otarine
sheep – ovine
shepherd – pastoral
ship – nautical, marine, naval (usually applies to warships)
shore – littoral
shrew – soricine
sight – visual
sign – semiotic
sister – sororal, [sisterly]
skin – dermal
skull – cranial
sky – celestial, [heavenly]
sleep – hypnoid, sleepy, sleeping
slug (mollusc) – limacine
smell (sense) – olfactory
snake – serpentine, snaky, ophidian
snow – niveous, nival, [snowy]
son (or daughter) – filial
sound – sonic, acoustic
south – austral, meridional, [southerly]
Spain – Hispanic, [Spanish]
sparrow – passerine (also applies to other perching birds)
speech – verbal, [spoken]
 spider – arachnoid, [spidery]
spring (season) – vernal, [spring-like], [springtime]
squirrel – sciurine
(postal)stamp – philatelic
star – stellar, sidereal, astral
starch – farinaceous, amyloid, [starchy]
stomach – gastric (see also abdomen)
sulphur – thionic, sulphuric
summer – (a)estival, summery, summertime
sun – solar, [sunny]
surface – superficial
Switzerland – Helvetian, Helvetic, [Swiss]
symbol – semiotic, symbolic

T
table – mensal (especially dining table), tabular
tail (anatomy) – caudal
tailor – sartorial
taste (sense) – gustatory
teacher – pedagogic(al) (now often derogatory), didactic
ten – decimal, tenth
three – ternary, trial, third
threshold – liminal
throat – pharyngeal
thunder – fulmineous
time – temporal
tin – stannic
toad (or frog) – batrachian
toe (or finger) – digital
tongue – lingual
tooth – dental
touch (sense) – tactile, haptic
town – urban
turtle – chelonian
tree – arboreal, dendroid
truth – veracious, truthful, true
twilight – crepuscular (see also dawn)
two – dual, binary, second

U
uncle – avuncular
underworld – chthonic, infernal
V
vagina – vaginal
vinegar – acetic
vulture – vulturine

W
walk – pedestrian, ambulant
wasp – vespine
water – aqueous, aquatic, [watery]
wax – cerotic (specifically, beeswax), [waxy], [waxen]
weasel – musteline, weasely
weather – meteorological
wedding – see marriage
week – hebdomadal, weekly
west – occidental, westerly
whale – cetaceous
wife – uxorial, wifely
wind – aeolian (British), eolian (US), [windy]
window – fenestral
wine – vinic
wing – alar
winter – hibernal, hiemal, [wintery]
wire – funicular
wolf – lupine, [wolfish], wolven
wood (area of trees) – sylvan
woman – feminine, [womanly]
word – lexical, verbal (usually refers to the spoken word)
words, study of meaning and changes of meaning – semantic
wordy, fluent or excessive talk – loquacious, garrulous
wordy, long and verbose – prolix
wrist – carpal

Y
year – annual, [yearly]

Z
zebra – zebroid, zebrine
zero – zeroth
External links
w:collateral adjective
Adjectives of relation (http://phrontistery.info/genitive.html)
List of Adjectives (http://www.zozanga.com/grammar/adjectives/listofadjectives.htm)

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