[a. OF. condicionne-r, corresp. to Sp. condicionar, It. condizionare, med.L. conditiōnāre (for condic-) to impose a condition on, to limit with conditions; f. conditiōn- CONDITION sb.]
1. intr. To treat about conditions; to make conditions, make terms; to stipulate, bargain with. Also with indirect passive. arch.
1494. Fabyan, VII. 643. For ye great stomake of the father, yt he wolde not be condycioned with of ye sone, this varyaunce contynued atwene them.
1550. Bale, Apol., 59 (R.). Here he tymeth and condycyoneth with God whiche approueth nothyng.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., 75. Dishonourable … to condition or make any tearmes with such Rascalls.
1658–9. Burton’s Diary (1828), IV. 59. Will any of you bring in a tenant into your house before you condition with him?
1721. Strype, Eccl. Mem., II. xv. 122. They were conditioned with to teach the religion … that should be established.
1815. Jane Austen, Emma, III. iii. 286. She trembling and conditioning, they loud and insolent.
b. Const. for († of) a thing.
1553. W. Cholmeley, in Camd. Misc. (1853), II. 4. I conditioned with my sayde workeman for the terme of x yeres.
a. 1603. T. Cartwright, Confut. Rhem. N. T. (1618), 51. Conditioning with him of some painfull penance and satisfaction.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, I. ii. (1840), 3. If they exceeded the time they conditioned for.
1791. Paine, Rights M. (ed. 4), 140. When the people of England sent for George the First, they ought at least to have conditioned for the abandonment of Hanover.
1872. Spectator, 7 Sept., 1127. The labourers … might condition for any proportion of the product of their labour … which would still leave the capitalist [etc.].
2. trans. To stipulate or bargain for; to make the condition, make it a condition.
a. with inf. or subord. cl.
1549. Latimer, 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 27. God condycioned wyth the Iewes, that theyr king should be suche a one as he hym self wold chose them.
1570. Dee, Math. Pref., 16. I vse here to condition, the thing measured, to be on Land.
1578. Timme, Calvin on Gen., 362. He conditioneth to haue of us the consent of faith and obedience.
1618. Barnevelt’s Apol., E iv. It is conditioned betwixt us, that I should not name him.
1634–5. Brereton, Trav. (1844), 9. Except the wife and husband condition and conclude formally in writing … that the longest liver take all.
1792. Chipman, Amer. Law Rep. (1871), 11. Bond conditioned that J. should not depart the liberties.
1849. Jane Austen, Mansf. Park (1870), I. iv. 34. He only conditioned that the marriage should not take place before his return.
† b. with simple object. Obs.
1572. Campion, Hist. Irel., xi. (1633), 34. Conditioning withall their assistance to chase the Romanes out of Brittaine.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. III. i. 199. Who being not rich by patrimony, take these iourneys onely for experience, and to be inabled to that expence, doe condition this reasonable gaine.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1811), I. xxxvi. 276. He recommended himself to my favour at parting … not offering to condition anything with me.
c. To agree by stipulation to do something.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia (1629), 185. Captaine Powell not having performed his service in the West Indies he conditioned with the Company.
1629. R. Hill, Pathw. Piety, I. 151. We condition with him to obey him.
1722. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 309. The full sum in gold which I had conditioned to pay.
1889. Temple Bar, Nov., 342. He conditioned in his marriage settlement to give her half his goods.
3. To subject to something as a condition; to make dependent on a condition to be fulfilled; to make conditional on, upon.
1530. [see CONDITIONING vbl. sb.].
1644. J. Goodwin, Dang. Fighting agst. God, 25. This liberty of choosing Pastors … is so conditioned, that it smiles only upon the rich.
1786. Burke, W. Hastings, Wks. 1842, II. 188. He has gone so far as even to condition the existence of the revenue itself with the exclusion of the company, his masters, from all interference whatsoever.
1884. Child, Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads, II. xxix. 260/2. A sea-fairy sends a maid to Arthur with a magnificent gift, which is, however, conditioned upon his granting a boon.
1889. Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., 13 Feb., 2/1. Any action which the Canadian representatives might take would have to be conditioned on the British Government’s approval.
4. To govern, qualify, limit, restrict, as a condition.
a. 1614. Donne, Βιαθανατος (1644), 185. The intent and end conditions every action.
1629. Gaule, Pract. Theories, 106. Man hath his free motions … neither is he conditioned … from the Ground he treads vpon.
1841–4. Emerson, Ess., Prudence, Wks. (Bohn), I. 94. The laws of the world, whereby man’s being is conditioned.
1852. M. Arnold, Poems, Empedocles, I. ii. Limits we did not set Condition all we do.
1877. Morley, Crit. Misc., Ser. II. 167. He knew how this law limited and conditioned progress.
1882. Nature, XXVII. 107. The size of the wire … must be conditioned … by the purposes to which the instrument is to be applied.
b. To be the (precedent) condition of, to determine as a condition the existence of. pass. To depend upon as its condition, to be conditional on.
1868. Rogers, Pol. Econ., v. (ed. 3), 49. Economically considered, the existence of mankind is conditioned by some sort of saving.
1877. Caird, Philos. Kant, II. xvii. 609. The idea of the existence of two separate worlds which condition each other.
5. a. Metaph. To subject to the qualifying conditions of finite existence or cognition. Also transf.
1829. Sir W. Hamilton, Discuss. (1852), 14. To think is to condition: and conditional limitation is the fundamental law of the possibility of thought.
1864. Kingsley, Rom. & Teut., 76. The natural human tendency to condition God by time.
b. To constitute or frame with conditions of being.
1857–8. Sears, Athan., ix. 72. The years for which the timepiece is conditioned and wound up.
1856. Masson, Ess., Th. Poetry., 421. Who conditions the universe anew according to his whim and pleasure.
6. To charge (a bond) with clauses or conditions. [Cf. F. conditionner un acte.]
1675. Lond. Gaz., No. 1059/2. Enter into Recognizances … to be Conditioned in the Form hereunder expressed. Ibid. They and every of them respectively entring into a Recognizance of the Penalty of Five hundred pounds to His Majesty … Conditioned in the Form hereunder written.
1794. Christian, in Blackstone’s Comm. (1809), II. 340. If the bond be simply conditioned for the payment of money.
1845. Stephen, Laws Eng., II. 198. Every person to whom administration is granted must give bond to the judge of the Court of Probate … conditioned for duly collecting and administering the estate.
7. Comm. To test the condition or state and quality of goods, esp. of a textile material; spec. to assay the amount of moisture contained in a sample of silk. [F. conditionner une soie.]
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Conditioning silk, a trade term for the assaying of silk, in order to test the proportions of moisture it contains.
1887. Yorksh. Post, 8 Jan., 8. A manufacturer or wool merchant, for instance, wishing to have his goods conditioned, sends them to the conditioning house … the officials … will estimate the moisture in goods, dry a sample, and declare the weight before and after that process, as well as number the counts, measure the tissues and the effect of scouring, and say what quantity of chemicals, or other admixtures fabrics contain.
8. U.S. Colleges. To subject to, or admit under, CONDITIONS (sense 8); to admit (a student) to a class with the condition that he shall by a given time pass a satisfactory examination in a subject or subjects, in which, on his entrance examination, he showed insufficient proficiency.
Mod. He is conditioned in Demosthenes (i.e., permitted to go on with a class, but must make up for present deficiency, by passing a supplementary examination in that subject by a given date).
