Propositus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person mentioned in a medical context as the main subject for analysis is also known as the focus of genealogical records and legally refers to an individual whose legal matters are under review
2. In clinical studies, this term is used to describe the individual of interest, while in genealogy, it identifies the key ancestor being traced and, in legal terminology, signifies the party involved in probating a will
3. The main subject examined in a medical study ; the central ancestor whose lineage is traced in genealogy ; the key figure whose case is considered in legal matters

Etymology: "Propositus" is the Latin past participle of "proponere", meaning "to set forth" or "to put before", and in medieval and early modern Latin it came to mean a person put forward as the subject of a matter. From that sense the English term is borrowed directly from Latin "prōpositus", which in genetics and medical contexts names the individual through whom a family's inherited condition is first brought to a doctor's attention. The Latin root is built from "pro-", "forth" or "before", and "ponere", "to place", so the literal image is of something set out in front of others for examination. The same root gives English "propose" and "proposition", though those came through French and carry more abstract senses. The Latin form itself kept its participial shape, which is why it sounds like a past-tense verb rather than a noun.