ab·la·tive / ˈablətiv/ • adj. 1. Gram. relating to or denoting a case (esp. in Latin) of nouns and pronouns (and words in grammatical agreement with them) indicating separation or an agent, instrument, or location.2. (of surgical treatment) involving ablation.3. of, relating to, or subject to ablation through melting or evaporation.• n. Gram. a word in the ablative case. ∎  (the ablative) the ablative case.

ablative (gram.) of a case expressing removal, source, agent, etc. XV. — (O)F. ablatif, -ive or L. ablātīvus, f. ablāt-, used as pp. stem of auferre take away; see -IVE.

ablative Designating an optical recording technique in which the heat generated by the recording beam melts or vaporizes a small area of the recording medium, leaving the underlying layer (with a different reflectivity) exposed.