predicate — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The part of the sentence (or clause) which states a property that a subject has or is characterized by.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   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!

   Thus, in (121) (a) persuade is clearly a three-place Predicate — that is, a Predicate which takes three Arguments: the first of these Arguments is the Subject NP John, the second is the Primary Object NP Mary, and the third is the Secondary Object S-bar [that she should resign]. By contrast, believe in (121) (b) is clearly a two-place Predicate (i.e. a Predicate which has two Arguments): its first Argument is the Subject NP John, and its second Argument is the Object S-bar [that Mary was innocent].

2. 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.

   Examples

   A propositional variable may be treated as a nullary predicate.

   A predicate is either valid, satisfiable, or unsatisfiable.

3. An operator, expression, or function that returns either true or false.

   Examples

   Predicates are usually found in a query's WHERE or HAVING clauses, though they can be located elsewhere (e.g. in CASE expressions).

Adjective

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.

Verb

1. To announce, assert, or proclaim publicly.

   Usage

   • Transitive

2. To assume or suppose; to infer.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   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.

   Of anyone else it would have been said that she was finding the afternoon rather dreary in the vast halls not of her forefathers: but of Miss Power it was unsafe to predicate so surely.

3. To base (on); to assert on the grounds of.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   The law is what constitutes both desire and the lack on which it is predicated.

   More examples (1)

   Cryptocurrencies, after all, are in many cases not so much currencies as speculative thingamabobs — digital tokens whose value is predicated largely on the idea that someone will take them off your hands at a higher price than it cost you to acquire them.

4. To make a term (or expression) the predicate of a statement.

   Usage

   • Transitive

5. To assert or state as an attribute or quality of something.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   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”).

Noun

1. (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

   Broader terms

   term

   Examples

   ‘Socrates is a man’ predicates manhood of Socrates

2. one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements

   Synonyms

   verb phrase

   Broader terms

   phrase

Verb

1. make the (grammatical) predicate in a proposition

   Broader terms

   relateinterrelate

   Examples

   The predicate ‘dog’ is predicated of the subject ‘Fido’ in the sentence ‘Fido is a dog’

2. affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of

   Synonyms

   proclaim

   Broader terms

   assertasseveratemaintain

   Examples

   The speech predicated the fitness of the candidate to be President

3. involve as a necessary condition of consequence; as in logic

   Synonyms

   connote

   Broader terms

   imply

   Examples

   solving the problem is predicated on understanding it well