predicate

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Middle French predicat (“that which is said of a subject”)^[2][3][4] and directly borrowed from Late Latin praedicātum,^[2][5][6][7] a noun use of the neuter past participle of Latin praedicō (“to proclaim, declare publicly”).^[2][4][8] The Late Latin noun, in logic from Boethius in the 6th century on, translated a Greek term of logic.^[2][5] The verb and the adjective come from the same participle or its stem,^[2][5][8][6] although Barnhart and Etymonline also allow for a back-formation from predication, recorded from about 1300.^[3][4] The Latin verb is from prae- (“forth, before”) and dicō (“to make known, proclaim”),^[2][9][4] a form related to the verb meaning "to say" that gave diction,^[8][7] from Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”).^[4][9] The word is a doublet of preach,^[3][10] and shares its Latin root with indicate, dedicate and abdicate.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is said of a subject in logic: about 1450, in J. Capgrave's Life of Saint Katherine.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Latin praedicō had already moved from "to proclaim, praise" to "to preach" and, in medieval logic, "to assert".^[2] English took the noun with the logicians' sense and the verb, in 1552, with the older one.^[2][3] Barnhart points out that the logical sense of the verb, recorded in English from the 1560s or 1570, was known to medieval scholars by 1290, so the order of the English records may be an accident.^[3][2] The grammatical sense of the noun followed in the 17th century, and in 1903 B. Russell's Principles of Mathematics gave it the sense of a propositional function.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave only the logical sense of the noun, and defined the verb as to affirm one thing of another.^[12] The sense "to base on" first appears in American English, in T. Clap's Religious Constitution of Colleges (1754) and his History of Yale College (1766);^[2][3][4] in American law the noun has meant a basis since 1832.^[2] A rare sense "to predict" arose through confusion with predict, first in 1623.^[2] In 1899 the noun was also used for a mark in an examination, after German Prädikat.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – noun, in logic, what is said of a subject.^[2][3]
• before 1513 – noun, a quality or attribute.^[2]
• 1552 – verb, to proclaim, preach, affirm.^[2][3]
• 1563 – verb, in logic, to assert something of a subject.^[2] Barnhart dates it to 1570.^[3]
• 1614 – verb, to affirm as a quality or attribute.^[2]
• before 1638 – noun, in grammar, the part of a sentence saying something about the subject.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1630s.^[4]
• 1718 – verb, to presuppose, imply.^[2]
• 1754 – verb, to base on something.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1766.^[3][4]
• 1832 – noun, in American law, a basis.^[2]
• 1837 – noun, a title that asserts something about its bearer.^[2]
• 1855 – adjective, belonging to the predicate.^[6] Etymonline dates it to 1887.^[4]
• 1903 – noun, in mathematics and logic, a propositional function.^[2]
• 1962 – adjective, in American law, of an earlier offence that affects a later case.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. In grammar, the part of a sentence or clause that says something about the subject, usually a verb with its objects or complements: in Anna sang loudly, sang loudly.^[6][13][2]
2. In logic, what is affirmed or denied of the subject of a proposition.^[6][2][13]
3. In mathematics and logic, a term for a property or relation; a propositional function.^[6][2]
4. In American law, a basis on which something rests.^[2]
5. A title that asserts something about the person who bears it.^[6][2][5]

Verb

1. To base a statement, belief or action on something, usually in the passive with on or upon: Her plan was predicated on steady funding.^{[9][13][6][2]}
2. To affirm something as a quality or attribute of something: The essay predicates courage of the whole crew.^[6][9][2]
3. To state publicly; to proclaim or declare.^[13][6][2]
4. To imply or connote.^[13][9]
5. In logic, to assert something of the subject of a proposition, or to make a term its predicate.^{[13][6][9][2]}
6. (archaic) To preach.^[6][5]
7. (obsolete) To praise or commend publicly.^[6][2]

Adjective

1. Belonging to the predicate of a sentence, especially completing a copula or linking verb: a predicate noun.^[6][13]
2. In American law, of an earlier crime that bears on the sentencing or prosecution of a later one.^[2]

Word family

• predication
• predicative
• predicatively
• predicator
• unpredicated

Related words

• predict
• preach
• indicate
• dedicate
• abdicate
• predicament
• diction

Usage notes

The verb is /ˈpred.ɪ.keɪt/, while the noun is /ˈpred.ɪ.kət/ in the UK and /ˈpred.ɪ.kɪt/ in the US.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b 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 y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
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 d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press