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Entry 12 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Condition

/kən-dĭsh'-ən/ · Con·di·tion · IPA /kənˈdɪʃ(ə)n/
01 n. Mode or state of being; state or situation with regard to external circumstances or influences, or to physical or mental integrity, health,…
  1. 1.
    Mode or state of being; state or situation with regard to external circumstances or influences, or to physical or mental integrity, health, strength, etc.; predicament; rank; position, estate.
    “I am in my condition A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king.” — Shak.
    “And O, what man's condition can be worse Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse?” — Cowley.
    “The new conditions of life.” — Darwin.
  2. 2.
    Essential quality; property; attribute.
    “It seemed to us a condition and property of divine powers and beings to be hidden and unseen to others.” — Bacon.
  3. 3.
    Temperament; disposition; character.[Obs.]
    “The condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil.” — Shak.
  4. 4.
    That which must exist as the occasion or concomitant of something else; that which is requisite in order that something else should take effect; an essential qualification; stipulation; terms specified.
    “I had as lief take her dowry with this condition, to be whipped at the high cross every morning.” — Shak.
    “Many are apt to believe remission of sins, but they believe it without the condition of repentance.” — Jer. Taylor.
  5. 5.
    A clause in a contract, or agreement, which has for its object to suspend, to defeat, or in some way to modify, the principal obligation; or, in case of a will, to suspend, revoke, or modify a devise or bequest. It is also the case of a future uncertain event, which may or may not happen, and on the occurrence or non-occurrence of which, the accomplishment, recission, or modification of an obligation or testamentary disposition is made to depend.(Law)
Phrases & compounds
Equation of condition — See under Equation.
On [or] Upon condition (that) — used for if in introducing conditional sentences.
Conditions of sale — the terms on which it is proposed to sell property by auction; also, the instrument containing or expressing these terms.
Syn. State; situation; circumstances; station; case; mode; plight; predicament; stipulation; qualification; requisite; article; provision; arrangement. See State.
02 v. i. To make terms; to stipulate.
imp. & p. p. Conditioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Conditioning
  1. 1.
    To make terms; to stipulate.
    “Pay me back my credit, And I'll condition with ye.” — Beau. & Fl.
  2. 2.
    To impose upon an object those relations or conditions without which knowledge and thought are alleged to be impossible.(Metaph.)
    “To think of a thing is to condition.” — Sir W. Hamilton.
03 v. t. To invest with, or limit by, conditions; to burden or qualify by a condition; to impose or be imposed as the condition of.
  1. 1.
    To invest with, or limit by, conditions; to burden or qualify by a condition; to impose or be imposed as the condition of.
    “Seas, that daily gain upon the shore, Have ebb and flow conditioning their march.” — Tennyson.
  2. 2.
    To contract; to stipulate; to agree.
    “It was conditioned between Saturn and Titan, that Saturn should put to death all his male children.” — Sir W. Raleigh.
  3. 3.
    To put under conditions; to require to pass a new examination or to make up a specified study, as a condition of remaining in one's class or in college; as, to condition a student who has failed in some branch of study.(U. S. Colleges)
  4. 4.
    To test or assay, as silk (to ascertain the proportion of moisture it contains).
  5. 5.
    train; acclimate.