‖ suppositum
(səˈpɒzɪtəm)
Pl. supposita.
[Scholastic L., neut. sing., used subst., of suppositus, pa. pple. of suppōnĕre to suppone.]
† 1. Metaph. = supposite n. 1. Obs.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xvii. 148 Some of the Rabbines..conceived the first man an Hermaphrodite; and Marcus Leo..in some sense hath allowed it, affirming that Adam in one suppositum without division, contained both male and female. 1648 N. Estwick Treat. Holy Ghost 36 The person is the very suppositum, in which the nature subsists. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 259 Can you know the suppositum, even the subject and accident by that Accident alone? 1719 Waterland Vind. Christ's Divinity xxv. 387 The Father is Creator, but the Son a Creature; and therefore they cannot be One and the same Hypostasis, or Suppositum. |
2. Logic. a. Something supposed or assumed, an assumption. b. pl. The things or objects denoted by a given term.
| 1833 W. H. Gillespie Argt. Being & Attrib. God i. iii. i. (1871) 32 The..fatal objection to such supposita. 1889 Cent. Dict. s.v. Extension, The extension [of a term] is also called the supposita, the subjective parts,..the scope,..and the breadth. |