DictionaryRoot: -atio
Latin

-atio

an action, process, or result

Forms

  • -atio
  • -ation- — Latin stem used outside the basic noun form.
  • -ation — Borrowed into English through French and Latin.

Origin

Latin -a-, associated with one class of verbs, plus the action-noun suffix -tio.

Note

The same formation can name either doing something or what the action produces.

278 / 374
noun

predication

pred-uh-KAY-shun/ˌprɛdəˈkeɪʃən/

The act of asserting something about a subject.

The statement 'The apple is red' uses predication to assign the apple a color.

Minimal language teaching image showing a red apple beside the exact statement 'The apple is red.' A subtle line connects apple to statement.
Etymology

“Proclaiming forth” supplies the idea of making an assertion. The action noun acquired a specialized logical meaning: affirming something of a subject, such as attributing a quality to it.

In context

Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy3:14
so predication I think is not really that tricky to wrap your head around you're saying something of something else or in Aristotle's terminology we are combining terms
Aristotle, The Categories | In a Subject vs. Predicated of a Subject | Philosophy Core Concepts

More examples

  • The sentence “Birds fly” illustrates predication by stating what birds do.
  • Predication can deny a property, as in “This fabric is not waterproof.”
  • The students compare two predications about the same subject.

Forms

predication · predications

predicate verb — To assert something about a subject.

predicative adjective — Expressing something asserted about a subject.

Similar words

assertion
Any stated claim, not specifically something asserted about a subject.
attribution
Assigns a quality or responsibility, rather than making any assertion.