implicature

n. in linguistics, a proposition that is not stated explicitly in an utterance and is not a condition for its truth but can nevertheless be inferred from it. The types of implicature recognized in pragmatics and discourse analysis go beyond those recognized as valid in formal logic. For example, the statement Mary is my dad’s wife would imply in most contexts Mary is not my mother, even though the first proposition cannot be said to entail the second. Compare presupposition. See also conversational inference; indirect speech act. —implicative adj.

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Psychology term of the day

December 23rd 2024

ambisexual

adj.

1. denoting individuals or characteristics that manifest no sex or gender dominance. Compare asexual.

2. an older term for bisexual (see bisexuality), now rarely used. —ambisexuality n.