entitativeadj.
/ˈɛntɪtətɪv/ metaphorical.
1. Pertaining to the mere existence of anything. entitative act n. transl. Latin actus entitātīvus, a term used by the Scotists to denote ‘material’ as opposed to ‘formal’ or ‘quiditative’ actuality. The word act in this phrase has its scholastic sense, ‘that which differentiates an “actual” from a “potential” existence’. Duns Scotus, differing from Aquinas, recognized two kinds of ‘act’, i.e. two senses or degrees in which a thing might be said to have ‘actual’ existence: in one sense it is ‘actual’ if it simply possesses the ‘matter’ by virtue of which it has any existence other than merely potential; in the other sense, it is actual only when it possesses the ‘form’ which gives it specific existence. Hence in the language of his disciples the entitative act is the ‘matter’ of an actually existing thing, while the formal act is its ‘form’; or, more accurately, they denote the possession of ‘matter’ and ‘form’ respectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adjective] > relating to the mere existence of
entitativec1600
a1308 Duns Scotus Sent. xi. iii. §11 Uno modo actus est differentia entis opposita potentiæ..Alio modo actus dicit habitudinem illam quam dicit forma ad informabile et ad totum cujus est.
1520 Lychetus Comm. on Duns Scotus' Sent. ii. xii. §19 Sicut forma est actus formalis quia potest informare per receptionem ipsius, ita etiam materia est actus entitativus.]
c1600 Timon (1980) iv. iii. 60 A numerically Indiuiduall which may haue there really and intrinsecally an entitatiue acte and essence besides a formall existence.
1628 Bp. J. Hall Olde Relig. vi. iii. 52 The bold Schooles dare say that the naturall and entitatiue value of the workes of Christ himselfe was finite, though the morall value was infinite.
1629 T. Jackson Treat. Divine Essence i. 129 There is more Entitative goodnesse in being a Man than in being a Lyon.
1743 J. Ellis Knowl. Divine Things iv. 289 Whether..the entitative material Act of Sin be physically or morally good?
1890 Tablet 29 Nov. 860 The vexed question as to the entitative simplicity or not of the living principles of mere plants and brute animals.
1907 Dublin Rev. July 188 St. Thomas, with all the Scholastics, maintained the absolute entitative distinction of God from creatures.
1909 M. H. Dziewicki Wyclif's De Ente 243 The commission of sin as an entitative act.
2. Of the nature of an entity; having real existence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > reality or real existence or actuality > [adjective]
present1340
actuala1398
absolutec1443
effectualc1475
bodilya1616
effective1620
deedy1781
real lifec1819
positive1831
factual1846
transactional1858
entitative1862
real world1963
1862 F. Hall tr. N. N. Gore Rational Refut. Hindu Philos. Syst. 272 When a man mistakes a rope for a snake..the man's misconception, which is entitative, is the cause of his fear.
Derivatives
ˈentitatively adv. in an entitative manner; as a mere existence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [adverb] > as a mere existence
entitatively1677
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > metaphysics > ontology > [adverb] > in relation to existence of entity
entitatively1677
ejectively1883
ontically1947
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III 55 The whole act considered entitatively and naturally.
1696 W. Lorimer Remarks Goodwins Disc. vii. 135 There cannot be a Conditional Will in God, that is..subjectively, or entitatively Conditional.
1738 E. Chambers Cycl. (ed. 2) (at cited word) Peter, entitatively [1728 entitively] taken, is Peter, as a thing, a substance, a man, &c. without any regard to his being a lord, a husband, learned, &c.
1818 in H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. ; and in mod. Dicts.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1600