Ethical dative

Definitions

  • Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Ethical dative (Gram) a use of the dative of a pronoun to signify that the person or thing spoken of is regarded with interest by some one; as, Quid mihi Celsus agit? How does my friend Celsus do?
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • Ethical dative the dative of a first or second personal pronoun implying an indirect interest in the fact stated, used colloquially to give a livelier tone to the sentence
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Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Gr. ēthikos—ēthos, custom.

Usage

In literature:

This is not the ethic dative.
"Milton's Comus" by John Milton
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