Stipulative definition
type of definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context
A stipulative definition is a type of definition in which a term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context. When the term already exists, this definition may, but does not necessarily, contradict the dictionary (lexical) definition of the term. Because of this, a stipulative definition cannot be "correct" or "incorrect" within its stipulated context; it can only differ from other definitions, but it can be useful for its intended purpose.
For example, in the riddle of induction by Nelson Goodman, "grue" was stipulated to be "a property of an object that makes it appear green if observed before some future time t, and blue if observed afterward". "Grue" has no meaning in standard English; therefore, Goodman created the new term and gave it a stipulative definition.
On stipulative definitions
Stipulative definitions of existing terms are useful in making theoretical arguments, or stating specific cases. For example:
Suppose we say that to love someone is to be willing to die for that person.
Take "human" to mean any member of the species Homo sapiens.
For the purposes of argument, we will define a "student" to be "a person under 18 enrolled in a local school".
Some of these are also precising definitions, a subtype of stipulative definition that may not contradict but only extend the lexical definition of a term.
“Stipulative definition” enters the record as type of definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Stipulative, definition and type can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Stipulative definition” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Stipulative, definition and type provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7617524. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Stipulative definition” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.