Etymology
The English name "accusative (case)" is an Anglicisation of the Latin accūsātīvus (cāsus), which was translated from Ancient Greek αἰτιατικὴ (πτῶσις), aitiatikē (ptôsis). The Greek term can mean either "(inflection) for something caused" or "for an accusation". The intended meaning was likely the first, which would be translated as Latin causātīvus or effectīvus, but the Latin term was a translation of the second. Compare Russian вини́тельный vinítel’nyj, from винить vinít’ "to blame".
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
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