Dictionary
con•di•tion•al
Pronunciation: (kun-dish'u-nl), [key]—
adj.
1. imposing, containing, subject to, or depending on a condition or conditions; not absolute; made or allowed on certain terms:
conditional acceptance.
2. Gram.(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.
3. Logic.
a. (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.
b. (of a syllogism) containing at least one conditional proposition as a premise.
4. Math.(of an inequality) true for only certain values of the variable, as
x + 3 > 0 is only true for real numbers greater than -3. Cf.
absolute (def. 12).
—
n.
Gram.
a. (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.”
b. a sentence, clause, or word expressing a condition.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
