A stipulative definition is a type of definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context. This new definition may, but does not necessarily, contradict the dictionary (lexical) definition of the term. Because of this, a stipulative definition cannot be "correct" or "incorrect"; it can only differ from other definitions.
For example, in a well-known riddle of induction by Nelson Goodman, "grue" was stipulated to be "a property of an object that makes it appear green if observed before some future time t, and blue if observed afterward." "Grue" has no meaning in standard English; therefore, Goodman created the new term and gave it a stipulative definition.
Stipulative definitions of existing terms are useful in making theoretical arguments, or stating specific cases. For example:
- Suppose we say that to love someone is to be willing to die for that person.
- Take "human" to mean any member of the species Homo sapiens.
- For the purposes of argument, we will define a "student" to be "a person under 18 enrolled in a local school."
Some of these are also precising definitions, a subtype of stipulative definition that may not contradict, but only extend, the lexical definition of a term.
Many holders of controversial and highly-charged opinions use stipulative definitions in order to attach the emotional or other connotations of a word to the meaning they would like to give it; for example, defining "murder" as "the killing of any living thing for any reason." The other side of such an argument is likely to use a different stipulative definition for the same term: "the premeditated killing of a human being." The lexical definition in such a case is likely to fall somewhere in between.
See also