in Grammar, a particle, which, pre- fixed to a word, changes it into a contrary sense. Thus, among the Greeks, the α is used as a privative; as in α-τις, atheft, acephalus, &c.—The Latins have their privative in -as, incorrigibilis, indeclinabilis, &c.— The English, French, &c. on occasion borrow both the Latin and Greek privatives.