predicate

predicate — noun

1. in grammar, the verb-centered part that tells us what the subject does, is, or b

1.nounC1
Definition

in grammar, the verb-centered part that tells us what the subject does, is, or becomes.

Example

In 'Lena laughed loudly', 'laughed loudly' is the predicate.

basic subject + predicate split

Mr Wu asked the class to circle each predicate in blue.

classroom instruction with countable noun

Common collocations
  • simple predicate
  • complete predicate
  • predicate adjective
  • predicate nominative
Synonyms
  • verb phrase

    often similar in simple sentence analysis, but not always identical in every grammar system

  • predication

    more abstract term for the relationship or structure, not the classroom label

Antonyms
  • subject

    the person or thing the sentence is about

Usage Note

Often paired with 'subject' in grammar teaching. A predicate may be only a verb, or it may also include objects, complements, and adverbials after the verb.

Common Mistakes

In "The dog barked", "The dog" is the predicate.
In "The dog barked", "barked" is the predicate.
the predicate says something about the subject; it is not the subject itself.

2. in logic, the word or term that says what quality, kind, or relation a subject h

2.nounC2
Definition

in logic, the word or term that says what quality, kind, or relation a subject has.

Example

In 'All roses are flowers', 'flowers' is the predicate.

predicate in a simple proposition

During logic class, Professor Lin drew circles for the subject and predicate.

subject and predicate as paired logic terms

Common collocations
  • predicate logic
  • one-place predicate
  • two-place predicate
  • logical predicate
Synonyms
  • property

    fits when the predicate names a feature of the subject

  • relation

    fits when the predicate connects two or more things

  • attribute

    broader philosophical word for a quality or feature

Antonyms
  • subject

    the thing the predicate is said about

Usage Note

Common in logic and philosophy, not ordinary school grammar. Distinguish from noun sense 1, where the term means the verb-centered part of a sentence.

Common Mistakes

In logic, the predicate is the whole second half of the sentence.
In logic, the predicate is what is said of the subject.
the logic sense is narrower than the grammar-class sense.

predicate — verb

predicate — adjective

Word family

  • predication
    nounC2
  • predicative
    adjectiveC2
  • predicatively
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

In the sense 'be predicated on', 'predicate' is much more formal than 'base' and appears most often in academic, legal, and policy writing. 'Base' is the everyday choice: you can base a lesson on a story, or say a plan is based on new facts. 'Ground' is formal too, but it often stresses evidence, principle, or reasoning, especially in phrases like 'ground an argument in data'. 'Rest on' is slightly literary and suggests that one central support holds up a larger claim. 'Predicate on' usually stays in the passive and points to a condition that must be true for the whole idea to stand. A teacher may say 'The rule is based on safety'; a judge may write 'The ruling is predicated on prior case law.'

predicate ↗base ↗ground ↗rest ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • predicate adjective
  • predicate logic
  • predicate phrase
  • predicate position

Adverbs

Phrases

  • be predicated on
  • subject and predicate

Prepositions

  • predicate of
  • predicated on
  • predicated upon

Etymology

LatinScholastic LatinMiddle EnglishModern English

Predicate comes from Latin roots meaning 'say publicly' or 'proclaim'. The verb goes back to Latin 'praedicare', meaning to state or make known, and the noun grows out of the related form 'praedicatum', literally something said about a subject. English took the word into grammar and logic through learned writing, where it kept the idea of making a statement about someone or something. That is why the noun can name the part of a sentence that tells us something about the subject, while the verb can mean either to state something formally or to build an argument on a stated basis.