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  1. if love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. conj. In the event that: If I were to go, I would be late.
  2. conj. Granting that: If that is true, what should we do?
  3. conj. On the condition that: She will play the piano only if she is paid.
  4. conj. Although possibly; even though: It is a handsome if useless trinket.
  5. conj. Whether: Ask if he plans to come to the meeting.
  6. conj. Used to introduce an exclamatory clause, indicating a wish: If they had only come earlier!
  7. n. A possibility, condition, or stipulation: There will be no ifs, ands, or buts in this matter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. In case that; granting, allowing, or supposing that; on condition that: used in introducing a conditional sentence or clause: as, I will go if you do; if he is there, I shall see him. In logic that which the conditional proposition expresses is such knowledge that the additional knowledge of the fact expressed in the clause introduced by if would give us the knowledge of the fact expressed in the other clause. “If A happens, B happens,” implies not only that whenever A happens B happens, in the actual circumstances, but that it would do so under a certain variation of circumstances from those which actually occur. Thus, “if I were to throw my inkstand on the floor, I should spoil the carpet,” and “if the result of throwing the inkstand on the floor would be to spoil the carpet, I shall not throw it on the floor,” may both be true at once, although in logical form the propositions appear to conflict.
  2. Whether: used in introducing an object clause.
  3. Although; notwithstanding that: as, I am honest, if I am poor; he is strong, if he is little. If, like and, but, and other conjunctions, is sometimes used as a noun, with reference to sentences so beginning.

Wiktionary

  1. conj. Supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that; used to introduce a condition or choice.
  2. conj. Supposing that; used with past subjunctive indicating that the condition is not fulfilled.
  3. conj. Although; used to introduce a concession.
  4. conj. computing In the event that a statement is true (a programming statement that acts in a similar manner).
  5. conj. Whether; used to introduce a noun clause as the object of certain verbs.
  6. conj. Even if; even in the circumstances that.
  7. n. informal An uncertainty, possibility, condition, doubt etc.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. conj. In case that; granting, allowing, or supposing that; -- introducing a condition or supposition.
  2. conj. Whether; -- in dependent questions.

Etymologies

  1. From Middle English yif, yef, from Old English ġif, ġef ("if; whether, though"), from Proto-Germanic *jabai (“when, if”), from Proto-Indo-European *e-, *ē- (“then, at that time”). Cognate with Scots gif ("if, whether"), West Frisian oft ("whether"), Dutch of ("or, whether, but"), Middle Low German ef ("if, whether"), German ob ("if, whether"), Icelandic ef, if ("if"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Old English gif. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (5)

Words with the same meaning

  1. whether
  1. gin
  1. gift
  1. provided
  1. thought

equivalents (1)

Other words for ‘if’

  1. but if

same context (39)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. yþ
  2. irm
  3. VF
  4. DF
  5. ai
  6. ð5
  7. VG
  1. ðtig
  2. qax
  3. imy
  4. could
  5. can
  6. Said
  7. must
  1. yet
  2. are
  3. make
  4. shall
  5. than
  6. only
  7. understand
  1. even
  2. four
  3. they
  4. divided
  5. Sicily
  6. abstract
  7. what
  1. pain
  2. sits
  3. stay
  4. consent
  5. forehead
  6. prais
  7. then
  1. proportion
  2. negative
  3. your
  4. portance

rhymes (16)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Biff
  2. Cliff
  3. Riff
  1. biff
  2. cliff
  3. dif
  1. diff
  2. griff
  3. hieroglyph
  1. riff
  2. skiff
  3. sniff
  1. stiff
  2. tiff
  3. whiff
  1. ziff

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. unremarkable

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tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘if’

  1. 要是

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Lists

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Comments

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  • vanishedone Warning in turn: "Considered Harmful" Essays Considered Harmful. Oct 16, 2008

  • seanahan Great minds think alike, eh? Oct 16, 2008

  • seanahan GOTO CONSIDERED HARMFUL Oct 15, 2008

  • john Careful whichbe! Go To Statement Considered Harmful. Oct 14, 2008

  • whichbe THEN GOTO 100. Oct 14, 2008

  • bilby Usage on gunpowder. Oct 14, 2008

  • mialuthien The Latvian equivalent for the "if" statement is ja tantei būtu riteņi, tante būtu tramvajs, or "if your auntie had wheels, she'd be a streetcar". That's a very, very old expression, and it is still in use today. Jul 22, 2008

  • bestiary "balls!" said the queen: "if i had two, i'd be king." Jul 22, 2008

  • plethora Or, contrastingly, if your auntie had balls, she'd be your uncle. Jul 22, 2008

  • johnmperry UK response to statement starting If..
    "If my uncle had tits he'd be my auntie." Jul 22, 2008

  • yarb Oh dear. Tonight I was that close – that close to being infamous. I don't want to be infamous. I want to be... f'mous. Famous. Like the Rudyard Kipling poem, 'If'. You know that? 'If' you do X, Y and Z, Bob's your uncle.

    - I'm Alan Partridge, episode 4, BBC TV. Jul 1, 2008

  • yarb ...if it's 6 o'clock
    you can hear the News;
    if you can hear the News
    you have ears. Therefore
    if it's 6 you've ears...

    - Peter Reading, 5x5x5x5x5, 1983 Jul 1, 2008

  • sonofgroucho If by Rudyard Kipling

    If you can keep your head when all about you
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
    But make allowance for their doubting too;
    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
    Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
    Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

    If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
    If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
    If you can meet with triumph and disaster
    And treat those two imposters just the same;
    If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
    Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
    And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

    If you can make one heap of all your winnings
    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
    And lose, and start again at your beginnings
    And never breath a word about your loss;
    If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
    And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
    If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
    Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
    And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son. Dec 10, 2006

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‘if’ has been looked up 13185 times, loved by 1 person, added to 32 lists, commented on 13 times, and has a Scrabble score of 5.