Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Putative
Pu′ta-tive
,Adj.
[L.
putativus
, fr. putare
, putatum
, to reckon, suppose, adjust, prune, cleanse. See Pure
, and cf. Amputate
, Compute
, Dispute
, Impute
.] Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed;
“His other putative (I dare not say feigned) friends.” as, the
. putative
father of a childE. Hall.
Thus things indifferent, being esteemed useful or pious, became customary, and then came for reverence into a
putative
and usurped authority. Jer. Taylor.
Webster 1828 Edition
Putative
PU'TATIVE
,Adj.
Definition 2024
putative
putative
English
Adjective
putative (comparative more putative, superlative most putative)
- 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.
- 1879, Maurice Mauris, "A Materialistic Artist," New York Times, 9 Nov., p. 10:
Synonyms
Translations
commonly believed or deemed to be the case
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