different between putative vs approximate

English

Etymology

First attested 1432, from Middle French putatif, from Latin put?t?vus (“supposed, purported”), from put?tus (“thought”), from put? (“I think, I consider, I reckon”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?pju.t?.t?v/

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.

   Synonyms: ostensible, purported, reputed, supposed

   • 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.

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /py.ta.tiv/
• Homophone: putatives

Adjective

putative

1. feminine singular of putatif

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

putative

1. inflection of putativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu.ta?ti.ve/
• Hyphenation: pu?ta?tì?ve

Adjective

putative

1. feminine plural of putativo

English

Alternative forms

• approx. (abbreviation, also for adverb approximately)

Etymology

From Latin approximatus, past participle of approximare (“to approach”); ad + proximare (“to come near”). See proximate.

Pronunciation

Adjective

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?.?p??k.s?.m?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?.?p??k.s?.m?t/, /?.?p??k.s?.m?t/

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?.?p??k.s?.me?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?.?p??k.s?.me?t/

Adjective

approximate (comparative more approximate, superlative most approximate)

1. Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling.
2. Nearing correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate.

   approximate results or values

   NASA's Genesis spacecraft has on board an ion monitor to record the speed, density, temperature and approximate composition of the solar wind ions.

Synonyms

• close

Antonyms

• exact, precise

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

approximate (third-person singular simple present approximates, present participle approximating, simple past and past participle approximated)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To estimate.

   I approximated the value of pi by taking 22 divided by 7.

2. (transitive) To come near to; to approach.
   • 1911, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

     When you follow two separate chains of thought, Watson, you will find some point of intersection which should approximate to the truth.

   • 1802, Jedidiah Morse, The American Universal Geography

     The telescope approximates perfection.

3. (transitive) To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

     to approximate the inequality of riches to the level of nature

Translations

Latin

Verb

approxim?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of approxim?