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conditional

adj. · n.
US //kənˈdɪʃənəɫ// UK //kəndˈɪʃənəl// con·di·tion·al
  1. 1 depending on a condition (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    only happening or true if something else happens first.

    subject to or dependent on one or more conditions being met.

    Example

    The bank gave them a conditional offer on the house, depending on a survey.

    Example

    The peace treaty remained conditional upon the immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from the disputed border regions.
  2. 2 grammar (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Science

    describing a sentence or word that shows a condition, often using 'if'.

    expressing a condition or supposition; typically used to describe clauses or moods that indicate a hypothetical scenario.

    Example

    In the sentence 'If it rains, we will stay home,' the first part is a conditional clause.

    Example

    The student struggled to master the third conditional, which requires the past perfect in the 'if' clause and 'would have' in the main clause.

    Usage

    In linguistics, this often refers to 'if-then' structures.
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  1. 3 a conditional statement (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    a sentence or a piece of computer code that starts with 'if'.

    a statement, proposition, or grammatical mood that expresses a condition; in programming, a logic gate that branches based on a boolean value.

    Example

    The programmer added a conditional to the code to check if the user was logged in.

    Example

    The algorithm uses a series of nested conditionals to determine the optimal routing path based on real-time traffic data.
    • if statement
Origin

From French conditionnel, from Old French condicionel, equivalent to condition + -al.

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