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something that is added, as one substance to another, to alter or improve the general quality or to counteract undesirable properties:
an additive that thins paint.
nutrition.

also called food additive. a substance directly to food during processing, as for preservation, coloring, or stabilization.
something that becomes part of food or affects it as a result of packaging or processing, as debris or radiation.

characterized or produced by ; c-mulative:
an additive process.
mathematics. (of a function) having the property that the function of the union or sum of two quant-ties is equal to the sum of the functional values of each quant-ty; linear.
historical examples

the correction is additive for temperatures above 62°, and subtractive for temperatures below 62°.
a treatise on meteorological instruments henry negretti

the additive was relaxation and his world was to be as commonplace as the hearth.
the land of look behind paul cameron brown

the correction is additive for all temperatures above 62°, and subtractive for temperatures below 62°.
a treatise on meteorological instruments henry negretti

it is, however, better to employ the additive effect of a definite number of feeble make-and-break shocks.
life movements in plants sir jagadis chunder bose

from these it is obvious that the result is due to the additive effects of many simple illusions of angle.
visual illusions matthew luckiesh

conversely, indefinite integrals are indeterminate to the extent of an additive constant.
encyclopaedia britannica, 11th edition, volume 14, slice 5 various

bearing in mind the additive effects of stimulus we see that its effective intensity increases with the duration of application.
life movements in plants, volume ii, 1919 sir jagadis chunder bose

(d) additive effect on current of response, root-tip a negative, and growing region a positive.
life movements in plants, volume ii, 1919 sir jagadis chunder bose

the additive effect of stimulus of light and gravity is seen ill-strated in figure 180.
life movements in plants, volume ii, 1919 sir jagadis chunder bose

these quant-ties are additive for years after 1800, and subtractive for years before that epoch.
astrology sepharial

adjective
characterized or produced by addition; c-mulative
noun
any substance added to something to improve it, prevent deterioration, etc
short for food additive
adj.

1690s, “tending to be added,” from latin additivus “added, annexed,” from past participle stem of addere (see addition).
n.

“something that is added” to a chemical solution or food product, 1945, from additive (adj.).

additive ad·di·tive (ād’ĭ-tĭv)
n.
a substance added in small amounts to something else to improve, strengthen, or otherwise alter it.
ad’di·tive adj.
additive
(ād’ĭ-tĭv)
noun a substance added in small amounts to something else to improve, strengthen, or otherwise alter it. additives are used for a variety of reasons. they are added to food, for example, to enhance taste or color or to prevent spoilage. they are added to gasoline to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, and to plastics to enhance molding capability.

adjective

relating to the production of color by the mixing of light rays of varying wavelengths. ◇ the additive primaries red, green, and blue are those colors whose wavelengths can be mixed in different proportions to produce all other spectral colors. compare subtractive. see note at color.

mathematics marked by, produced by, or involving addition.

mathematics
a function f : x -> y is additive if
for all z f z : z in z
(f “preserves lubs”). all additive functions defined over cpos are continuous.
(“latex as \subseteq, “lub” as \sqcup ).
(1995-02-03)