'accusative' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'accusativus', where 'accusare' meant 'to accuse'.

'accusativus' transformed into the Old French word 'accusatif', and eventually became the modern English word 'accusative' through Middle English.

Initially, it meant 'related to accusation', but over time it evolved into its current grammatical meaning of 'indicating the direct object of a verb'.