different between conditional vs uncertain

English

Alternative forms

• conditionall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French condicionel (French conditionnel).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?d???n?l/

Noun

conditional (plural conditionals)

1. (grammar) A conditional sentence; a statement that depends on a condition being true or false.
2. (grammar) The conditional mood.
3. (logic) A statement that one sentence is true if another is.
4. (programming) An instruction that branches depending on the truth of a condition at that point.

5. (obsolete) A limitation.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (in logic): if-then statement; material conditional

Meronyms

• (in logic): antecedent
• (in logic): consequent

Translations

Adjective

conditional (not comparable)

1. Limited by a condition.
   • 1753, William Warburton, The Character and Conduct of the Messengers

     Every covenant of God with man […] may justly be made (as in fact it is made) with this conditional punishment annexed and declared.

2. (logic) Stating that one sentence is true if another is.
   • 1826, Richard Whately, Elements of Logic

     A conditional proposition is one which asserts the dependence of one categorical proposition on another.

3. (grammar) Expressing a condition or supposition.

Synonyms

• conditioned
• relative
• limited
• (in logic): hypothetical

Antonyms

• absolute
• categorical
• unconditional

Derived terms

Translations

English

Etymology

un- +? certain

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?s??t?n/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t?n

Adjective

uncertain (comparative more uncertain, superlative most uncertain)

1. Not certain; unsure.
   • 1663, John Tillotson, The Wisdom of being Religious

     Man, without the protection of a superior Being, […] is […] uncertain of everything that he hopes for.

2. Not known for certain; questionable.

3. Not yet determined; undecided.
4. Variable and subject to change.
5. Fitful or unsteady.

   • Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

6. Unpredictable or capricious.

Antonyms

• certain

Related terms

• uncertainly, uncertainty

Translations

Noun

uncertain pl (plural only)

1. (with "the") Something uncertain.

Anagrams

• N Centauri, centaurin, encurtain, runcinate