1. Involving or characterized by description; serving to describe.
2. Concerned with classification or description: a descriptive science.
3. Grammar.
   1. Expressing an attribute of the modified noun, as green in green grass. Used of an adjective or adjectival clause.
   2. Nonrestrictive.
4. Linguistics. Of or relating to the study or the description of a language or a specific stage of a language, with emphasis on constructing a grammar without regard to historical development, comparison with other languages, or advocated norms for correct or proper usage.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.