Dictionary entry

Predicate

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pred″i‐cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Predicated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Predicating.] [L. praedicatus, p. p. of praedicare to cry in public, to proclaim. See Preach.] 1. To assert to belong to something; to affirm (one thing of another); as, to predicate whiteness of snow.

2. To found; to base.

Predicate is sometimes used in the United States for found or base; as, to predicate an argument on certain principles; to predicate a statement on information received. Predicate is a term in logic, and used only in a single case, namely, when we affirm one thing of another. “Similitude is not predicated of essences or substances, but of figures and qualities only.” Cudworth.