im·plic·a·ture ( m-plk  -chr)n. 1. The aspect of meaning that a speaker conveys, implies, or suggests without directly expressing. Although the utterance "Can you pass the salt?" is literally a request for information about one's ability to pass salt, the understood implicature is a request for salt. 2. The process by which such a meaning is conveyed, implied, or suggested. In saying "Some dogs are mammals," the speaker conveys by implicature that not all dogs are mammals. |
implicature [ɪmˈplɪkətʃə]
n Logic Philosophy
1. (Philosophy / Logic) a proposition inferred from the circumstances of utterances of another proposition rather than from its literal meaning, as when an academic referee writes the candidate's handwriting is excellent to convey that he has nothing relevant to commend
2. (Philosophy / Logic) the relation between the uttered and the inferred statement
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