Fictive
/ˈfɪk.tɪv/noun
Not real or true; made up or imagined.
Did you know?“Fictive” ultimately traces back to Latin *fingere*, “to shape, form, mold,” the same root behind *fiction*, *feign*, and *effigy*—proof that words for lies, art, and masks all began as the act of making.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheigh-
“to knead, shape, form”
Latin
Latin
fingere
“to shape, mold, form; to devise or invent”
Latin
Latin
fictivus
“made up, feigned, imaginary”
Middle French
Old French
fictif
“feigned, invented”
Late Middle English
English
fictive
“imaginary; not real”