entailment

American  

[en-teyl-muhnt] / ɛnˈteɪl mənt /

noun

1. the act or fact of entailing, or involving by necessity or as a consequence.

   The logical entailment of this approach is that the right way to design a curriculum is to make it free of bias.

2. something involved as a necessary part or consequence of something.

   Long hours of work are an entailment of the job.

3. Linguistics. a relationship between two sentences such that if the first is true, the second must also be true, as in Her son drives her to work every day and Her son knows how to drive .

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entailment British  

/ ɪnˈteɪlmənt /

noun

1. the act of entailing or the condition of being entailed

2. philosophy logic

   1. a relationship between propositions such that one must be true if the others are

   2. Usual symbol: ∋.  a proposition whose truth depends on such a relationship See fish-hook

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Other Word Forms

• preentailment noun

Etymology

Origin of entailment

entail + -ment

Explanation

An entailment is a deduction or implication, that is, something that follows logically from or is implied by something else. In logic, an entailment is the relationship between sentences whereby one sentence will be true if all the others are also true. Want a less-dry-sounding, real-life example? How about this: Being a good student, for instance, is an entailment of attending classes, learning the material, and keeping up with assignments. An old-fashioned definition of entailment is a set of limitations that restrict the ways property can be bequeathed to heirs.

Example Sentences

But there are patent reasons within the sphere of philosophy itself for entailment of activity and taking of stock.

From The Approach to Philosophy by Perry, Ralph Barton

Four States declared in their constitutions against the entailment of estates, and primogeniture was abolished in aristocratic Virginia.

From The Fathers of the Constitution; a chronicle of the establishment of the Union by Farrand, Max

An Act of entailment can, it is true, be founded, but it is rarely permitted, being looked upon with disfavour for reasons of political economy.

From Round About the Carpathians by Crosse, Andrew F.

Increase of faculty by exercise, hereditary entailment of gains, and consequent progressive adaptation, were prominent ideas in this treatise.

From Herbert Spencer by Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur)

Ownership is not complicated in any way with magisterial duties or prestige or entailment, as in England.

From Rural Health and Welfare by Fairchild, George Thompson

Related Words

• consequence
• ramification
• repercussion
• residual
• result