The term "ablative" refers to a type of material or process that involves the removal or destruction of material from a surface. This is often used in contexts like aerospace engineering, where ablative materials are designed to protect spacecraft during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere by burning away and dissipating heat. In grammar, "ablative" can also describe a case in some languages, such as Latin, that indicates separation or movement away from something. This grammatical case often conveys meanings related to source, cause, or instrumentality, helping to clarify relationships between words in a sentence.