different between putative vs notional

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

Etymology

notion +? -al

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n????n?l/
• Rhymes: -????n?l

Adjective

notional (comparative more notional, superlative most notional)

1. Of, containing, or being a notion; mental or imaginary.
2. Speculative, theoretical, not the result of research.

   This paper proposes a notional Federated Identity Management (FIM) architecture.

3. (linguistics) Having descriptive value as opposed to a syntactic category.
4. (finance) Used to indicate an estimate or a reference amount
5. (informal) Full of ideas or imaginings.
   • 1995, Walter D. Edmonds, In the Hands of the Senecas (page 137)

     She knew what Pete would say if she told him about it — he would say she was getting notional; and she did not want Pete to think of her as a notional woman. Notional women sometimes had a hard time marrying unless they had money.

Derived terms

• notionality
• notionally

Translations

Noun

notional (plural notionals)

1. A fake company used as a front in espionage.
   • 2012, Joseph C. Goulden, Peter Earnest, The Dictionary of Espionage: Spyspeak Into English (page 157)

     Numerous CIA notionals, created to counter Communist organizations in Western Europe during the Cold War years, remain active and unrevealed.