predicatory

Compare Latin praedicatorius (“praising”).

predicatory (comparative more predicatory, superlative most predicatory)

1. affirmative; making a clear assertion or statement of praise, especially one with religious or moral implications.
   • 1649, Joseph Hall, Resolutions and Decisions of Divers Practicall cases of Conscience:

     The just degrees of callings must be herein duly observed; whether in a public way, as pastors of congregations ; or in a private way , as masters of families : whether in the schools , in a mere grammatical way ; or in the church , in a predicatory

   • 2004, Georgiana Donavin, ‎Cary J. Nederman, ‎Richard J. Utz, Speculum Sermonis, page 299:

     Hex's sermon clearly shows a lack of predicatory features, although, according to the colophon, the preacher himself wrote it.

   • 2018, Garry W. Trompf, ‎Gunner B. Mikkelsen, ‎Jay Johnston, The Gnostic World:

     The revelation monologue Trimorphic Protennoia (NHC XIII 1) takes the form of a first-person self-predicatory aretalogy (“I am X,” “I am Y”) or recitation of the deeds and attributes of Protennoia-Barbelo, the First Thought of the Sethian supreme deity.

2. Forming an ontologically neutral predicate; implying no new information or qualities.
   • 2022, Christopher J. Austin, ‎Anna Marmodoro, ‎Andrea Roselli, Powers, Time and Free Will, page 52:

     In a 'predicatory' sense, whatever we say in our natural language about an object defines a property: an object has the property of being such that 'x'.·

   • 2023, Toby Friend, ‎Samuel Kimpton-Nye, Dispositions and Powers:

     In Bird's (2016, 2018) phrasing, we understand dispositions as 'predicatory' properties, to which we are 'ontologically uncommitted' , imbuing them with 'no metaphysical baggage'.

   • 2024, Lorenzo Azzano, Dispositional Reality, page 150:

     On my account, the distinction between merely true and metaphysically perpicuous disposition ascriptions underlies the often-drawn distinction between metaphysically innocent vs. loaded dispositional talk; commenting on Bird's (2016) similar distinction between predicatory and ontic properties/dispositions McKitrick (2018, p. 67) implicitly criticizes this distinction; for her, an abundantist perspective is preferable, as she considers the alternative to be seriously problematic when it comes to prediction and similarity.