a. (sb.) [ad. late L. suppositīvus, f. supposit-, pa. ppl. stem of suppōnĕre to SUPPONE. Cf. F. suppositif.]
1. Of the nature of, implying or grounded on supposition; suppositional.
† Suppositive necessity = ‘hypothetical necessity’ (HYPOTHETICAL 3).
1605. Camden, Rem., 39. Not out of suppositiue coniectures, but out of Alfricus Grammer.
1621. Sanderson, Serm. (1632), 368. Not an absolute and positive, but a conditional and suppositive necessity.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah, III. x. 434. Suppositive was the offence of Saint Paul (onely on their bare surmise) but positive must be his punishment.
1662. J. Chandler, Van Helmont’s Oriat., 186. It is a suppositive Aphorisme.
1881. Scribner’s Monthly, Feb., 634. I said we had about one hundred dollars’ worth. This was a rough guess…. We were, however, forced to pay twenty-five per cent. on the suppositive one hundred dollars.
1892. J. Tait, Mind in Matter, IV. (ed. 3), 290. His verdict on a suppositive case of the kind was, ‘If they believe not Moses [etc.].’
b. Gram. Expressing a supposition, conditional; as sb. a conditional conjunction. rare.
1751. Harris, Hermes, II. ii. (1786), 244. As to Continuatives, they are either Suppositive, such as, If; or Positive, such as, Because.… The Suppositives denote Connection, but assert not actual Existence.
2. = SUPPOSITITIOUS 1 c.
1910. Dyson Hague, in The Fundamentals, I. vi. 101. They conjecture that these four suppositive documents were not compiled and written by Moses.
