predicand

English

Noun

predicand (plural predicands)

1. (syntax) What a clausal predicate, predicative complement or adjunct relates to.

   In, "downhearted, he left," the predicand for downhearted is the person denoted by he (i.e. he was downhearted).

2. (semantics) The referent of the phrase of which another constituent (the predicate) is predicated.

   For example, in They appear uneasy, the property of being uneasy is predicated of (the referent of) they, which is therefore the predicand.

References

• Huddleston & Pullum. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 217.
• “predicand”, in Aarts, Chalker & Weiner. (2014). The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, →ISBN. p. 317.