[pred.i.cate] n [ME, fr. LL praedicatum, fr. neut. of praedicatus] (15c) 1 a: something that is affirmed or denied of the subject in a proposition in logic b: a term designating a property or relation
2: the part of a sentence or clause that expresses what is said of the subject and that usu. consists of a verb with or without objects, complements, or adverbial modifiers -- pred.i.ca.tive adj -- pred.i.ca.tive.ly adv
[2]pred.i.cate vt -cat.ed ; -cat.ing [LL praedicatus, pp. of praedicare to assert, predicate logically, preach, fr. L, to proclaim publicly, assert--more at preach] (1552) 1 a: affirm, declare b archaic: preach
2. a: to assert to be a quality, attribute, or property--used with following of "~s intelligence of humans" b: to make (a term) the predicate in a proposition
3: found, base--usu. used with on "the theory is predicated on recent findings"
4: imply [3]pred.i.cate adj (1887): completing the meaning of a copula "~ adjective" "~ noun"