| 释义 |
conditional, a. and n.|kənˈdɪʃənəl|
[ME. condicionel, a. OF. condicionel (now conditionnel), ad. L. condiciōnāl-em, f. condiciōn-: see condition n. and -al1.]
A. adj.
I. generally.
1. Subject to, depending on, or limited by, one or more conditions; not absolute; made or granted on certain terms or stipulations.
conditional immortality: the theological doctrine that human immortality is conditional upon faith in Christ. conditional offer: an offer made upon certain conditions, esp. an offer of a place at a university, college, etc., made to a prospective student, conditional upon the attainment of specified grades in forthcoming examinations or upon other requirements. conditional sale: a sale of which the completion or binding effect depends upon the performance of certain conditions; a sale with the provision that the vendor may resume proprietorship on certain conditions.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 344 Bileve, þat stondiþ in general wordis and in condicionel wordis. c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 430 If his [God's] wityng streyneth neuer a deel But by necessitee condicioneel [v.r. -el]. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 511 Of inforced sinne they make two sorts: whereof they call one absolute, the other conditionall. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. viii. 4 Onely to sweare a Conditionall Fealtie. 1682J. Scarlett Exchanges 75 A Possessor of a Bill may protest against a limitted and conditional Acceptance. 1745De Foe's Eng. Tradesman I. xix. 183 The promises are really not absolute but conditional. 1873J. Richards Wood-working Factories 172 A kind of conditional sale system; machines are bought, and what is stranger, furnished, on trial. 1875E. White Life in Christ iv. xxvi. (1878) 425 The belief in Conditional Immortality lingered in the churches..for several centuries after the time of Athanasius. 1963Admissions Procedure 1963–64 (U.C.C.A.) 11 Unconditional and qualifying offers may be firmly accepted, but not conditional offers. Ibid. 12 If, on 8th June he is holding one offer only and this is a conditional offer this will now be regarded as his preferred offer. 1986Oxf. Mag. No. 8. 1/2 A marked advance on the 330 old-style conditional offers made in 1984... The conditional offer has been more amply exploited.
b. Const. on.
1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, The son's inheritance is made conditional on marrying a girl..who is now a marriageable young woman. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. ix. 93 The king had made the return of his favour conditional on Becket's behaviour.
2. Of or pertaining to condition, expressing a condition: see 5–8 below.
†3. Of or pertaining to one's condition or social status. Obs.
1632Lithgow Trav. x. (1682) 425 Their conditional vertues [are] semblable to their last and longest Conquerors.
4. Existing under conditions and limitations; subject to circumstances.
1837Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 79 In this very conditional world..he that thinks least will live the longest. 1844Emerson Lect., Yng. Amer. Wks. (Bohn) II. 297 The population of the world is a conditional population..not the best, but the best that could live in the existing state.
II. spec.
5. Logic.
conditional judgement or conditional proposition: one consisting of two categorical clauses, the former of which, expressing a condition introduced by if or equivalent word, is called the antecedent (in Grammar protasis), the latter, stating the conclusion, is called the consequent (apodosis). conditional syllogism: a syllogism having a conditional proposition for its major premiss.
1532More Confut. Tindale Wks. 418/1 Yf he tourne it from a condicional proposicion in to an affyrmatyue antecedent and consequent. 1628T. Spencer Logick 229 These compound axiomes are called Conditionall in the common phrase of the Schooles; because, the first part is put Conditionally, not absolutely. 1725Watts Logic ii. ii. §6 Conditional or hypothetical propositions are those whose parts are united by the conditional particle if. 1864Bowen Logic vii. 207 A Conditional Syllogism is one of which the Major Premise, and only the Major Premise, is a Conditional Judgment.
6. Gram. Of or pertaining to the expression of a condition.
conditional mood or conditional mode: applied by Palsgrave to that form of the French verb which expresses the protasis of a conditional proposition (the Conditional of modern French being called by him ‘Potential’); in Spanish and Portuguese, applied to forms expressing both the protasis and the apodosis (‘first’ and ‘second conditional’); in modern French and Italian to that which usually expresses the apodosis only. conditional conjunctions: such as are used in expressing a condition, e.g. if, unless, though. conditional phrase: a phrase equivalent to a conditional conjunction, e.g. provided that, supposing that, etc.
1530Palsgr. 84 Modes they have vii, the indicative..the subjunctive..the potenciall..the imperatyve..the optative..the condicional, the infinitive. Ibid. The condicional mode whiche they use whan they expresse condicion if a dede be to be done, as sy je parle. 1786H. Tooke Purley 56 Those words which are called conditional conjunctions, are to be accounted for in all languages..as I have accounted for If and An. 1861P. B. Du Chaillu Equat. Afr. (ed. 2) App. 476 The conditional mood has a form of its own, but the conjunctive particles are used as auxiliaries. 1877Bain Comp. Higher Gram. 148 The conditional clause is introduced by ‘if’. 1879Roby Lat. Gram. II. 209 Conditional sentences..sometimes the conditional particle is not expressed.
7. Law.
conditional discharge: (see quots.). conditional estate: an estate held upon conditions precedent or subsequent, by the non-performance whereof it is defeated. conditional fee: ‘a fee restrained to some particular heirs, exclusive of others’ (Blackstone). conditional limitation: a condition in a grant or device, the non-fulfilment of which will cause the property to pass to a third party. Also (in sense 1) conditional obligation, conditional pardon, conditional surrender, etc.
1552Huloet, Condicionall possession, or state, Possessio fiduciaria. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 161 Another similar conditional estate, created by operation of law, for security and satisfaction of debts, is called an estate by elegit. Ibid. II. 369 If the surrender be conditional, and the presentment be absolute, both the surrender, presentment, and admittance thereupon are wholly void. 1769Ibid. IV. 394 A pardon may also be conditional..the king..may annex to his bounty a condition either precedent or subsequent. 1827J. J. Powell Devises (ed. 3) II. 285 The clause ceased to be merely a condition of forfeiture, and became a conditional limitation. 1864Serjt. Manning in Athenæum 27 Feb. 302/2 For more than two centuries after the Norman Conquest, if land were given to A. and the heirs of his body, A. was said to acquire a conditional fee. A child being born, the condition was fulfilled, and A, the donee, became absolute owner, and could dispose of the estate as freely as if it had originally been conveyed to him in fee simple. 1947Hansard Commons 27 Nov. 2143 We propose to substitute for binding over conditional discharge, which means that if an offender commits a further offence within 12 months he will be liable to be brought up for sentence in respect of the offence regarding which he was conditionally discharged. 1971Reader's Digest Family Guide to Law 769/2 If the offender does not commit any further offence during the period of the conditional discharge, no conviction is recorded against him. 1984Which? Dec. 558/3 Only professional thieves go to prison and first offenders are usually fined or maybe given a conditional discharge.
8. Math. Applied to equations that state the conditions.
1841J. R. Young Math. Dissert. ii. 61 The conditional equations themselves are equally undeterminate.
B. n. (elliptical uses of the adj.)
1. A word or clause expressing a condition.
a1533Frith Wks. 71 (R.) The text hath not that conditional, although I was contented to take it at your handes to see what you could prove. 1873R. Black tr. Guizot's France II. xxv. 479 A peace, which, in spite of some conditionals favourable to France, left the principal and fatal consequences..to take full effect.
2. Gram. A conditional conjunction; the conditional mood of the verb.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict. F, Conditionals as si, Aduersatiues, as Aunque..will haue a subiunctiue. 1609W. Sclater Threef. Preservative (1610) B iv a, Copulatives somtimes haue force of conditionals. 1671H. M. tr. Erasmus' Colloq. 85 Now we will vary them by Subjunctives or conditionals. Mod. The Conditional is the imperfect of the Future.
3. Logic. A conditional proposition or syllogism.
1828Whately Rhet. in Encycl. Metrop. 258/1 Adopting the form of a Destructive Conditional. 1867Atwater Logic 104 As has been shown before also, Disjunctives may be turned into Conditionals. |