predicament

predicament
\ \ [14] Predicament was originally a technical term in logic, denoting a ‘category of attributes which may be asserted of a thing’. It broadened out in the 16th century to ‘situation’, but it does not seem to have been until the 18th century that the specific modern sense ‘awkward situation’ became established. The word comes from late Latin praedicāmentum, a derivative of praedicāreproclaim’ (source of English preach and predicate [16]). This was a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘in front of’, hence ‘in public’ and dicāremake known’.
\ \ Cf.PREACH, PREDICATE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • predicament — PREDICAMÉNT, predicamente, s.n. (log.) Categorie (de predicate 2). – Din fr. prédicament. Trimis de oprocopiuc, 08.04.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  PREDICAMÉNT s. v. categorie. Trimis de siveco, 13.09.2007. Sursa: Sinonime  predicamént s. n …   Dicționar Român

  • predicament — predicament, dilemma, quandary, plight, scrape, fix, jam, pickle can all denote a situation from which one does or can extricate himself only with difficulty. Predicament carries the implication that the situation constitutes a problem for those… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • predicament — Predicament. s. m. Categorie. Terme de Logique. Ordre, rang, classe où l on range plusieurs choses de mesme nature. Il y a dix predicaments. la substance est le premier de tous les prédicaments. On dit, qu Un homme est en bon ou en mauvais… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • predicament — [prē dik′ə mənt, pridik′ə mənt] n. [ME < LL(Ec) praedicamentum < L praedicare: see PREACH] 1. a condition or situation, now specif. one that is difficult, unpleasant, embarrassing, or, sometimes, comical 2. Archaic CATEGORY (sense 2) SYN.… …   English World dictionary

  • prédicament — ⇒PRÉDICAMENT, subst. masc. PHILOS. [Chez Aristote] Synon. de catégorie (v. ce mot I A 1). Nous dirons que la continuité est quantitative ou qualitative, selon qu elle concourt ou qu elle ne concourt pas avec la mensurabilité; mais, en opposant… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Predicament — Pre*dic a*ment, n. [Cf. F. pr[ e]dicament, L. praedicamentum. See {Predicate}.] 1. A class or kind described by any definite marks; hence, condition; particular situation or state; especially, an unfortunate or trying position or condition. O… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • predicament — I noun adverse circumstances, adversity, angustiae, barrier, case, circumstance, complication, condition, conjuncture, corner, crisis, critical situation, danger, dangerous condition, difficultas, difficulty, dilemma, embarrassing position,… …   Law dictionary

  • predicament — (n.) late 14c., that which is asserted (a term in logic), from M.L. predicamentum, from L.L. praedicamentum quality, category, something predicted, from L. praedicatus, pp. of praedicare (see PREDICATE (Cf. predicate)), a loan translation of Gk.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • predicament — [n] difficult situation asperity, bad news*, bind*, Catch 22*, circumstance, clutch, condition, corner*, crisis, deadlock, deep water*, dilemma, drag*, emergency, exigency, fix*, hang up*, hardship, hole, hot water*, imbroglio, impasse, jam*,… …   New thesaurus

  • predicament — ► NOUN 1) a difficult situation. 2) Philosophy each of the ten categories in Aristotelian logic. ORIGIN originally in the sense «category», later «state of being»: from Latin praedicamentum something predicated …   English terms dictionary

  • predicament — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ awful, difficult, dire, terrible, worse ▪ Other companies are in an even worse predicament than ourselves. ▪ current, present …   Collocations dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”