Comparative means judged by setting it beside something else. Not good — better than that one.
Grammar has the precise sense, since the comparative form of an adjective is bigger, faster or more useful, sitting between the plain form and the superlative. The general sense means relative, so comparative comfort and comparative safety both mean better than what came before rather than good in themselves. Academic subjects use it for method, and comparative literature or comparative law means studying two traditions side by side.
1adjectivecomparativeMeasured or judged by comparison with something else.
“They lived in comparative comfort after the move.”
2noungrammarIn grammar, the form of an adjective expressing more.
“The comparative of good is better.”
Middle English
comparatif
English, today
comparative
Built from
From Middle English comparatif. From Middle English comparatif, from Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparātīvus, equivalent to comparātus, from comparāre (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -īvus.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA