delineative

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de·lin·e·ate

(dĭ-lĭn′ē-āt′)

tr.v. de·lin·e·at·ed, de·lin·e·at·ing, de·lin·e·ates

a. To draw or depict: "In black and white wash, he delineated the gnarled roots of a tree" (Sally Holmes Holtze).

b. To describe or characterize in words: "the specter of the bored and isolated housewife, which Friedan delineated so brilliantly" (Mary V. Dearborn).

a. To mark, form, or show the outline or border of: The police delineated the crime scene with yellow tape. A hedge delineates one plot of land from the other.

b. To establish the position of (a border): The treaty delineates the border between Spanish and American territory.

c. To show or contain a distinguishing characteristic of; distinguish: "The first game ... delineated the differences between the two teams" (Stuart Miller).

[Latin dēlīneāre, dēlīneāt- : dē-, de- + līnea, line, thread; see line¹.]

de·lin′e·a′tion n.

de·lin′e·a′tive adj.

de·lin′e·a′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Adj.

delineative - depicted in a recognizable manner

depictive

representational - (used especially of art) depicting objects, figures,or scenes as seen; "representational art"; "representational images"

delineative

adjective

Serving to describe:

descriptive, graphic, representative.

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References in periodicals archive ?

In the process, the children's actions and their shifting moral significance make delineative terms such as "child" "so malleable that they catalyze the collapse or reconstruction of the heteronormative family" (109).

The Terror of Childness in Modern Horror Cinema

If Pocock's now famous division between the Aristotelian and Gaian traditions gives us a rubric to understand the ways in which citizen theory has negotiated the poles of being both a political and legal category, there is a prior tension in the category of which the Greek/Roman division is partially reflective, between what might called its "delineative" and "associative" roles.

This basic tension in the concept of citizenship between its delineative and associative functions arises politically because citizenship is supposed to serve a double role, identifying who belongs to the political body, and connecting political duties to the capacities necessary to perform those duties.

On its own, this delineative purpose has been well appreciated by those who write on citizenship, but too often it is treated simply as what citizenship means: to be a citizen is to be one deemed fit to bear the rights provided by the state.

In spite of the centrality of this question of belonging to the political history of citizenship, the dominant mode of thinking about the category in political philosophy and theory, not just in the Liberal tradition but also a few of its staunchest Republican and radical-democratic critics, has been an exclusive focus on citizenship's delineative function.

Kant's dilemma and the double life of citizenship

His social beings engage in delineative performances.

James's conception of novelistic truth and his aesthetic of fiction

(109) What weighed against the issuance of a restraining order, and the factor that ultimately prevailed albeit by a narrow delineative margin, was the fear that the grant of injunctive relief would disserve the public interest.

Educational issues and judicial oversight

He continued this delineative practice throughout his career, eventually also using painted marks.