putative

adjective


- generally thought to be or to exist, even if this may not really be true

- commonly accepted or supposed

- assumed to exist or to have existed

Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The adjective "putative" comes from the Latin verb putare, which means "to think, consider, reckon, or suppose."

It was borrowed into Old French as putatif, retaining the meaning of "presumed or supposed, and entered Middle English from French in the late 1400s, keeping the meaning of "commonly accepted, reputed, or assumed to exist."

Putative is often used in legal, scholarly, and religious contexts (e.g., putative father, putative marriage).

Related Words from putare:

- Reputation (re-putare – "to think again, consider”)
- Compute (com-putare – "to count together”)
- Amputate (am-putare – "to prune away”)
- Dispute (dis-putare – "to think differently, argue")

Today, putative is used to describe something that is assumed to be true, commonly believed, or widely regarded as correct, but not necessarily proven.

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TODAY’S ‘FACTS’, TOMORROW’S 'FABLES'

Reality is a fragile thing—what we believe to be undeniable fact today may turn into laughable myth tomorrow. Throughout history, putative truths have crumbled under the weight of new evidence, forcing us to reconsider what we once accepted without question.

The four bodily humours were an ancient medical theory that formed the foundation of Western medicine for over 2,000 years, from ancient Greek times until the 19th century. According to this theory, the human body contained four distinct fluids or "humours" that needed to be in balance for good health:

1.  Blood - Associated with the heart, spring, air, and a sanguine (cheerful, optimistic) temperament
2.  Yellow bile (or choler) - Associated with the liver, summer, fire, and a choleric (easily angered, ambitious) temperament
3.  Black bile (or melancholy) - Associated with the spleen, autumn, earth, and a melancholic (thoughtful, depressed) temperament
4.  Phlegm - Associated with the brain/lungs, winter, water, and a phlegmatic (calm, unemotional) temperament

This theory, developed by ancient Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Galen, proposed that all diseases and disabilities resulted from an excess or deficit of one of these four humours. Medical treatments focused on restoring this balance through practices like bloodletting, induced vomiting, or prescribed diets.

The theory had a profound impact on both medicine and culture. Our modern vocabulary still contains references to the humours in words like "sanguine," "choleric," "melancholic," and "phlegmatic" to describe personality types, or phrases like "being in good humour" or "having bad humours."

The humoral theory was gradually replaced by more evidence-based approaches to medicine in the 19th century, though some aspects of traditional medicine around the world still incorporate similar balancing concepts.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

accepted, affirmed, alleged, apparently true, apparent, asserted, assumed (for the sake of argument), assumed to be, attributed, avowed, believed (to be), claimed, commonly accepted (believed, regarded, supposed), conjectural, consensual, considered (to be), could be the case, credited, declared, deemed, designated (as), estimated, fabled, generally accepted (acknowledged, assumed, believed, recognized, regarded, supposed), given, imputed, likely true, ostensible, ostensibly true, presumed (to be, valid), presumptive, prima facie, probable, professed, purported, PUTATIVE, put forth as true, reckoned as, recognized, reputed, reputedly, seeming, seemingly true, so-called, stated, supposed (to be), taken for granted (to be), thought to be, titular, understood, widely believed (held to be, thought to be), would-be

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Beware of companies whose PUTATIVE headquarters exist only on paper, not as a physical location.”

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