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I know “majoratively” is a word; there was a post answering that question on this forum 8 years ago and there are definitions that come up when searched in Google. There are basically zero results when searching the word “minoratively”. I assume it would be a word because of the correlation to its opposite word, “majoratively”. I don’t know about “minorative” in the same regard.

On a related note, is it possible for a word to be part of the English language if it is not in any dictionary? (Such as “minoratively”?)

Heartspring
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Dman
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    Are you sure majoratively is actually a word used in English? And yes, words exist without being defined by a dictionary. Once they enter the common language of a people, they soon enter the dictionary. Google was a company/search engine first, and its common use as a verb eventually earned it a place in the dictionary. "For last year's words belong to last year's language/And next year's words await another voice."

    ― T.S. Eliot

     – anongoodnurse May 24 '23 at 00:20
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    Related if not duplicate, does this give an answer to your question, "Is it a word?" https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1990/if-i-invent-a-word-what-language-is-it – livresque May 24 '23 at 01:06
  • What do you mean by "is a word"? Seriously, that's a difficult question. – alphabet May 24 '23 at 03:44
  • What do you think minoratively means? Do you have a sentence using it? Inventing a word is possible if you either provide a definition or the meaning is so obvious that it doesn't need one, and I don't think the latter applies here. (Relating to a minority? Occasionally? Rarely? Less than half?) – Stuart F May 24 '23 at 09:25
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    'Minorative' is defined in Wiktionary, but at first sight the meaning ('diminishing') doesn't correspond to that of 'majoratively' ('mostly'). Using 'minoratively' would probably lose you marks in an essay, members of an audience, credibility .... – Edwin Ashworth May 24 '23 at 09:49
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    I VTC'd as "opinion-based", but on reflection I should have cited Is majoritively a word? as a duplicate. I've just *downvoted* the Answer there claiming it is a valid word. You can claim anything "is a word" if there's evidence that anyone, ever has used it and been understood. But so far as I'm concerned that's far too loose a definition, so I'm sticking with *Is it in the full Oxford English Dictionary?* In the case of *majorative / minorative/ly, the answer is a resounding No it's not!* – FumbleFingers May 24 '23 at 10:11

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