stipulative

Stipulative is an adjective describing something that involves or relates to a stipulation. In scholarly use, the term is most often applied to stipulative definitions—definitions that a speaker or writer introduces for the purposes of discussion rather than reporting how a word is ordinarily used. A stipulative definition assigns a meaning to a term for a specific context or argument, and it may or may not align with common usage.

Stipulative definitions are common in philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, and related fields. They allow precise debate by establishing a term’s extension and intension within the inquiry. They differ from lexical or descriptive definitions, which aim to record existing usage. A stipulative definition can be intentionally novel or tailored to the needs of a model or theory, but it should be clearly stated to avoid ambiguity.

In logic and formal semantics, stipulation may also occur when a rule, axiom, or principle is declared for the sake of argument rather than asserted as a claim about the world. The term is derived from Latin stipulatio, and related nouns include stipulation and stipulate.

Common caveats: because stipulative definitions govern usage only within the stated context, readers should not assume that the defined term carries broader acceptance. When appropriate, authors distinguish stipulative uses from ordinary language or from widely accepted definitions. See also concepts such as definition, stipulation, and semantic theory.