Plural of dative; in grammar, cases or forms of nouns that show the indirect object or recipient of an action.
From Latin 'dativus' meaning 'relating to giving,' derived from 'dare' (to give). The dative case was so named because it typically indicates to whom something is given.
The dative case is why Latin sounds like a puzzle—instead of word order, endings tell you who's receiving what! Many modern languages dropped cases entirely, but German and Russian still use them, making learning these languages harder but their grammar more precise.
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