Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Condition?

\Con*di"tion\, n. [F., fr. L. conditio (better condicio) agreement, compact, condition; con- + a root signifying to show, point out, akin to dicere to say, dicare to proclaim, dedicate. See {Teach}, {Token}.] 1. Mode or state of being; state or situation with regard to external circumstances or influences, or to physical or mental integrity, health, strength, etc.; predicament; rank; position, estate. I am in my condition A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king. --Shak. And O, what man's condition can be worse Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse? --Cowley. The new conditions of life. --Darwin. 2. Essential quality; property; attribute. It seemed to us a condition and property of divine powers and beings to be hidden and unseen to others. --Bacon. 3. Temperament; disposition; character. [Obs.] The condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil. --Shak. 4. That which must exist as the occasion or concomitant of something else; that which is requisite in order that something else should take effect; an essential qualification; stipulation; terms specified. I had as lief take her dowry with this condition, to be whipped at the high cross every morning. --Shak. Many are apt to believe remission of sins, but they believe it without the condition of repentance. --Jer. Taylor. 5. (Law) A clause in a contract, or agreement, which has for its object to suspend, to defeat, or in some way to modify, the principal obligation; or, in case of a will, to suspend, revoke, or modify a devise or bequest. It is also the case of a future uncertain event, which may or may not happen, and on the occurrence or non-occurrence of which, the accomplishment, recission, or modification of an obligation or testamentary disposition is made to depend. --Blount. Tomlins. Bouvier. Wharton. {Equation of condition}. (Math.) See under {Equation}. {On or Upon} {condition} (that), used for if in introducing conditional sentences. ``Upon condition thou wilt swear to pay him tribute . . . thou shalt be placed as viceroy under him.'' --Shak. {Conditions of sale}, the terms on which it is proposed to sell property by auction; also, the instrument containing or expressing these terms. Syn: State; situation; circumstances; station; case; mode; plight; predicament; stipulation; qualification; requisite; article; provision; arrangement. See {State}.
\Con*di"tion\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Conditioned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Conditioning}.] 1. To make terms; to stipulate. Pay me back my credit, And I'll condition with ye. --Beau. & Fl. 2. (Metaph.) To impose upon an object those relations or conditions without which knowledge and thought are alleged to be impossible. To think of a thing is to condition. --Sir W. Hamilton.
\Con*di"tion\, v. t. [Cf. LL. conditionare. See {Condition}, n.] 1. To invest with, or limit by, conditions; to burden or qualify by a condition; to impose or be imposed as the condition of. Seas, that daily gain upon the shore, Have ebb and flow conditioning their march. --Tennyson. 2. To contract; to stipulate; to agree. It was conditioned between Saturn and Titan, that Saturn should put to death all his male children. --Sir W. Raleigh. 3. (U. S. Colleges) To put under conditions; to require to pass a new examination or to make up a specified study, as a condition of remaining in one's class or in college; as, to condition a student who has failed in some branch of study. 4. To test or assay, as silk (to ascertain the proportion of moisture it contains). --McElrath.