Literary notes about putative (AI summary)
In literary works, "putative" is frequently used to denote a relationship or characteristic that is accepted in theory without being conclusively proven. For instance, it often qualifies familial connections—such as designating a man as the presumed father in ambiguous situations [1, 2, 3]—and extends to assumptions about authorship, ownership, or social roles [4, 5, 6]. The term serves as a linguistic tool to signal provisional identity or legitimacy, subtly questioning what is known versus what is assumed, and thereby adding layers of nuance to character relationships and narrative reliability [7, 8].
- I had not denied it, and I was, if not the actual father, at least the putative sire.
— from My Memoirs, Vol. V, 1831 to 1832 by Alexandre Dumas - Is this only the [428] putative father of the bantling he is taxed to maintain, or, indeed, the actual parent, the real progenitor of the child?
— from Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16) by United States. Congress - I suppose," he added, "that legally speaking you are the putative father, not me.
— from The Rat Race by Jay Franklin - It was a body blow to the putative owner of a stage-line.
— from Roosevelt in the Bad Lands by Hermann Hagedorn - He publishes but one book, of which he is the putative author.
— from Work for Women by George J. Manson - In this manner was born Louis XIV, the putative son of Louis XIII.
— from Celebrated Crimes (Complete) by Alexandre Dumas - He is now known as Deva Dharma Râja, which is one of the titles of Yama, the god of death, and Yudhisthira, his putative son.
— from The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2) by William Crooke - But there comes to his help a barbarian ally,—a certain Mithridates of Pergamus, a putative son of the great Mithridates of Pontus.
— from The Commentaries of Cæsar by Anthony Trollope
