imposing, containing, subject to, or depending on a condition or conditions; not absolute; made or allowed on certain terms: conditional acceptance.
Grammar. (of a sentence, clause, mood, or word) involving or expressing a condition, as the first clause in the sentence If it rains, he won't go.
Logic.
(of a proposition) asserting that the existence or occurrence of one thing or event depends on the existence or occurrence of another thing or event; hypothetical.
(of a syllogism) containing at least one conditional proposition as a premise.
Mathematics. (of an inequality) true for only certain values of the variable, as x + 3 > 0 is only true for real numbers greater than −3.Compare absolute (def. 12).
noun
Grammar.
(in some languages) a mood, tense, or other category used in expressing conditions, often corresponding to an English verb phrase beginning with would, as Spanish comería “he would eat.”
a sentence, clause, or word expressing a condition.
Origin of conditional
1350–1400; Middle English condicionel<Anglo-French, Middle French <Late Latin condiciōnālis, equivalent to condiciōn- (stem of condiciō) condition + -ālis-al1
His committment to "counting all the votes" was conditional on Bush withdrawing all of his lawsuits.
No, Democrats Did Not Just Want to "Count All the Votes" in the 2000 Election.|Megan McArdle|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The task force approved 30 of the 56 Yemeni detainees for “conditional” detention.
Obama, Not Congress, Is the Reason Guantánamo Is Still Open|Thomas Joscelyn|May 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The sort of laugh which expresses uncertainty of perception and conditional approval went up.
The Daughter of the Storage|William Dean Howells
A quibble is intended between as the conditional particle, and ass the beast of burthen.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies|Samuel Johnson
He took it all for granted, then—and claimed her conditional promise to the uttermost.
Hypatia|Charles Kingsley
I refuse to wait for you; I refuse to accept a conditional engagement.
My Lady's Money|Wilkie Collins
Madison replied, that a conditional ratification did not make a State a member of the Union.
Nullification, Secession Webster's Argument and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions|Caleb William Loring
British Dictionary definitions for conditional
conditional
/ (kənˈdɪʃənəl) /
adjective
depending on other factors; not certain
grammar(of a clause, conjunction, form of a verb, or whole sentence) expressing a condition on which something else is contingent: " If he comes " is a conditional clause in the sentence " If he comes I shall go "
(of an equation or inequality) true for only certain values of the variable: x ² –1 = x + 1 is a conditional equation, only true for x = 2 or –1
(of an infinite series) divergent when the absolute values of the terms are considered
Also: hypotheticallogic(of a proposition) consisting of two component propositions associated by the words if…then so that the proposition is false only when the antecedent is true and the consequent false. Usually written: p → q or p ⊃ q, where p is the antecedent, q the consequent, and → or ⊃ symbolizes implies