a. rare. [f. SUPPORT v. + -IVE.] Having the quality of supporting; affording support; sustaining. (lit. and fig.)
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T., Ep. Ded. To the supportiue perpetuating of your canonized reputation, wholie this booke haue I destined.
1689. Thoughts Justice Gentl. Undertaking at York, 1. These Laws are not destructive but supportive of one another, and all supportive of Man.
1887. Amer. Jrnl. Psychol., Nov., 97. Nor is the collapse of supportive tissue beneath, which has been suggested as a cause of abnormal dermal sensations [etc.].
1908. Amer. Jrnl. Sociol., XIV. 49. The architecture was harmonious, and mutually attractive and supportive.
