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Predicate
Definitions
- 1 Of or related to the predicate of a sentence or clause.
- 2 Predicated, stated.
- 3 Relating to or being any of a series of criminal acts upon which prosecution for racketeering may be predicated.
- 1 The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.
"In the light of this observation, consider Number Agreement in a sentence like: (120) They seem to me [_S — to be fools/^✽a fool] Here, the Predicate Nominal fools agrees with the italicised NP they, in spite of the fact that (as we argued earlier) the two are contained in different Clauses at S-structure. How can this be? Under the NP MOVEMENT analysis of seem structures, sentences like (120) pose no problem; if we suppose that they originates in the — position as the subordinate Clause Subject, then we can say that the Predicate Nominal agrees with the underlying Subject of its Clause. How does they get from its underlying position as subordinate Clause Subject to its superficial position as main Clause Subject? By NP MOVEMENT, of course!"
- 2 one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements wordnet
- 3 A term of a statement, where the statement may be true or false depending on whether the thing referred to by the values of the statement's variables has the property signified by that (predicative) term.
"A propositional variable may be treated as a nullary predicate."
- 4 (logic) what is predicated of the subject of a proposition; the second term in a proposition is predicated of the first term by means of the copula wordnet
- 5 An operator, expression, or function that returns either true or false.
"Predicates are usually found in a query's WHERE or HAVING clauses, though they can be located elsewhere (e.g. in CASE expressions)."
- 1 To announce, assert, or proclaim publicly. transitive
- 2 involve as a necessary condition of consequence; as in logic wordnet
- 3 To assume or suppose; to infer. transitive
"There was a character about Madame Defarge, from which one might have predicated that she did not often make mistakes against herself in any of the reckonings over which she presided."
- 4 affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of wordnet
- 5 To base (on); to assert on the grounds of. transitive
"The law is what constitutes both desire and the lack on which it is predicated."
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- 6 make the (grammatical) predicate in a proposition wordnet
- 7 To make a term (or expression) the predicate of a statement. transitive
- 8 To assert or state as an attribute or quality of something. transitive
"1911, Encyclopedia Britannica, Conceptualism This quality becomes real as a mental concept when it is predicated of all the objects possessing it (“quod de pluribus natum est praedicari”)."
Etymology
From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle praedicō (“to proclaim”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix); see also Etymology 2 below. The adjective was derived from the noun by metanalysis, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
From Middle English predicat(e), from Old French predicat (French prédicat), from Medieval Latin praedicātum (“thing said of a subject, predicate”), substantivized from the nominative neuter singular of praedicātus, the perfect passive participle praedicō (“to proclaim”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix); see also Etymology 2 below. The adjective was derived from the noun by metanalysis, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
From Latin praedicātus, perfect passive participle of praedicō (“to publish, declare, proclaim”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from prae- (“before”) + dicō (“to proclaim, dedicate”), related to dīcō (“to say, tell”). Doublet of preach.
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