Etymologically
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conditional

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Pronunciation

  • /kənˈdɪʃ.ə.nəl/, /kənˈdɪʃ.nəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English condicionel,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French condicionel, now conditionnel,[2][4][5] from Late Latin condiciōnālis,[6][3][2] formed from the stem of Latin condiciō (“agreement, stipulation; situation”) and the suffix -ālis.[6][7][2] The Shorter Oxford allows a borrowing either from Old French or from Late Latin.[8] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1339 in the sense “conditional, not absolute”.[9] The Latin noun comes from condīcō (“to talk over together, agree upon”), from con- and dīcō (“to say”),[5][4][10] from Proto-Indo-European *deik-.[10] Klein notes that the Latin spelling with -t- is an error.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Subject to or limited by conditions; not absolute; granted on certain terms: about 1380, in Wyclif.[2] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer used the adjective three times, spelled condicionel and condicioneel.[11] The grammatical sense, expressing a condition, is recorded from 1530 in Palsgrave's French grammar, the logical one from 1532 in Thomas More, and a legal use from 1552.[2] As a noun, a word or clause expressing a condition, it appears in the 1530s, and as a name for a conditional conjunction or the conditional mood from 1591.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as “by way of stipulation; not absolute”.[12] A short-lived sense “relating to one's condition or social status” is recorded once, in 1632.[2] In mathematics it was applied from 1841 to equations that state conditions,[2] and in logic the noun has meant a conditional proposition since 1828,[2][3] the date Merriam-Webster gives for the noun as a whole.[3] The construction conditional on is recorded from 1864.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1380 – subject to conditions; not absolute.[2]
  • 1530 – grammar, expressing a condition.[2]
  • 1532 – logic.[2]
  • a1533 – noun, a word or clause expressing a condition.[2]
  • 1591 – noun, the conditional mood or a conditional conjunction.[2]
  • 1632 – relating to one's social status (obsolete).[2]
  • 1828 – noun, in logic, a conditional proposition.[2][3]
  • 1841 – mathematics, of equations stating conditions.[2]
  • 1864 – conditional on.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Depending on a condition; not absolute or certain, often followed by on or upon: The loan is conditional on a good credit check.[13][3][2]
  2. (grammar) Expressing a condition, as a clause, conjunction or mood of the verb: “If it rains” is a conditional clause.[13][3][14]
  3. (logic and mathematics) Of a proposition, equation or inequality, true only under certain conditions or for certain values of the variables.[13][15][2]
  4. Brought about by conditioning.[14]

Noun

  1. (grammar) A conditional word, clause or verb form; the conditional mood.[3][15][14][2]
  2. (logic) A conditional proposition; an implication.[3][15][2]

Word family

  • conditionality
  • conditionally
  • biconditional
  • nonconditional
  • conditional probability

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  15. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster