Implicational

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to a logical connection where one assertion entails another and indicates potential consequences within a reasoning structure
2. Concerning the association between two statements where the truth of one suggests the truth of the other while revealing possible implications in logic
3. Referring to a logical relationship where one proposition inherently implies the validity of another and uncovers possible consequences in reasoning

Etymology: The word is a simple build: "implication" plus the adjective suffix "-al", which English took from Latin "-ālis" through Old French. The noun itself traces back to Latin "implicāre", meaning to fold or entwine something inside something else, from "in-" ("in") and "plicāre" ("to fold"). The same root gives English "complicate" and "replicate", both of which still carry the sense of folding things together. The leap from folding to logic happened in the noun "implication". Latin "implicātiō" meant an entanglement or intertwining, and that sense of one thing being wrapped up inside another gradually shifted toward the idea of something being involved or contained within a statement. From there it came to mean a conclusion that a statement carries with it, which is the sense that logicians use. Because "implicational" is an adjective built on that noun, it describes the relation itself rather than the thing that holds it: a connection in which one claim, once accepted, commits you to another.