Definition of: attributive

(ə·trib′yə·tiv) adjective
1. Pertaining to or of the nature of an attribute; expressing or assigning an attribute.
2. So ascribed, as a work of art: That canvas is an attributive Vermeer.
3. Gram. Expressing an attribute; in English, designating an adjective or its equivalent which stands before the noun it modifies, as opposed to a predicate adjective which follows a linking verb; as, in the expression “a silver watch,” silver is an attributive adjective.
—noun Gram. An attributive word.
—at·trib′u·tive·ly adjective
—at·trib′u·tive·ness noun