putative

WOTD – 7 March 2010

English

Etymology

First attested 1432, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French (deprecated template usage) putatif, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin (deprecated template usage) putātīvus from (deprecated template usage) putātus from (deprecated template usage) .

Adjective

putative (comparative more putative, superlative most putative)

1. Commonly believed or deemed to be the case; accepted by supposition rather than as a result of proof.
   • 1879, Maurice Mauris, "A Materialistic Artist," New York Times, 9 Nov., p. 10:

     [T]he lady . . . insisted upon going herself, requesting me to mind for a second the baby. . . . lo! the baby awoke and stared at me with a pair of big frightened eyes, which the little thing in another moment rolled in all directions, as if in search of its putative mother.

   • 1989, William E. Colby and Jeremy J. Stone, "US must support Thailand if Cambodia is to survive," Milwaukee Sentinel (Los Angeles Times Service), 28 Oct. (retrieved 15 Sep. 2009):

     Just as Prince Sihanouk is fronting for the Khmer Rouge today . . . so also was he their putative leader from 1970 to 1975.

   • 2006, Unmesh Kher, "No Neat Endings for the JonBenet Case," Time, 18 Aug.:

     Karr's past does raise suspicions. When he was arrested in Bangkok, he was living in a dormitory-like guesthouse in a neighborhood frequented by sex tourists. . . . Of course, Karr's putative pedophilia would not make him guilty of murder.

Synonyms

• ostensible, purported, reputed, supposed

Translations

commonly believed or deemed to be the case

• Armenian: ենթադրյալ (entʻadryal)
• Catalan: putatiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 推定的 (tuīdìng de), 假定的 (jiǎdìng de)

• Dutch: zogenaamd (nl)
• Estonian: arvatav, oletatav
• Finnish: oletettu
• French: putatif (fr)
• German: mutmaßlich, vermeintlich (de)
• Greek: φερόμενος (ως) (ferómenos (os))
• Icelandic: meintur m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: putativo (it)
• Macedonian: претпоставен m (pretpóstaven), наводен m (návoden)
• Norwegian: antatt, formentlig, formodet
• Portuguese: putativo (pt) m
• Russian: предположительный (ru) (predpoložitelʹnyj), вероятный (ru) (verojatnyj), мнимый (ru) (mnimyj)
• Spanish: putativo (es) m
• Turkish: varsayılan, farz edilen

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French

Adjective

1. (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) feminine of putatif

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Italian

Adjective

putative Template:f

1. Feminine plural form of putativo