a. and sb. [a. F. corroboratif, -ive (Paré, 16th c.), ad. L. type *corrōborātīv-us, f. corrōborāt- ppl. stem: see -IVE.]
A. adj. Having the quality of corroborating.
1. Strengthening, fortifying, invigorating. arch.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus. (1877), 78. These sweet smels are bothe corroboratiue to the sences, and confortatiue to the spirits.
1625. Hart, Anat. Ur., II. iv. 74. Corroboratiue and other medicines.
1711. Shaftesb., Charac. (1749), III. 70. We shall endeavour to make appear: 1st, That Wit and Humour are corroborative of Religion, and promotive to true Faith.
1861. Mill, Utilit., iii. 48. A complete web of corroborative association is woven round the social feeling by the powerful agency of the external sanctions.
2. Of a legal act, statement, evidence, etc.: Confirmatory.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., XI. x. § 21. A latter oath may be corroborative of the former, or constructive of a new obligation.
1750. Warburton, Lett. (1809), 37. Anything explanatory or corroborative of what I say in the beginning of my book.
1762–71. H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), I. 273. This epitaph, corroborative of the tradition above-mentioned.
1853. C. Brontë, Villette, xxii. I will give corroborative testimony.
1880. Gladstone, in 19th Cent., No. 38. 717. Whether the Homeric poems may not be a corroborative witness to the Book of Genesis.
† B. sb. A strengthening or fortifying agent or measure; esp. in Med. = CORROBORANT. Obs.
1601. Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 246. The juice of Scordotis is holden to be a great corroboratiue of the stomack.
1649. Jer. Taylor, Gt. Exemp., II. ix. ¶ 20. The rite of confirmation is … intended by the Holy Ghost for a corroborative of baptismall grace.
1785. D. Low, Chiropod., 128. A little warm wine … to act as a corroborative.
1805. Foster, Ess., II. vi. 191. An efficacious corroborative to his inflexibility.
Hence Corroboratively adv.
1849. Fraser’s Mag., XL. 407. ‘It is true,’ exclaimed Madame de Bohm, corroboratively.
1865. Pall Mall Gaz., 8 May, 4/2. The anonymous painter and grainer, who writes … so corroboratively to ‘my dear Lord’ from America.
