Single word to replace “allowed to be missing” [on hold]












9















I want to express my knowledge about the presence of absence of something. My knowledge is divided into three different cases:




  • I know that the thing doesn't exist.

  • I don't know whether the thing exists.

  • I know that the thing exists.


Sadly, neither of those is the negation of another one. However, I can define four cases, where each case is the negation of another case:




  1. Something is allowed to exist. (allowed)

  2. Something is allowed to be missing. (???)

  3. Something is guaranteed to exist. (guaranteed)

  4. Something is guaranteed to be missing. (prohibited)


I want to describe each of these cases by a single word, which is supposed to clearly distinguish it from the other three cases. As you can see, I already found three of the words. However, in the second case I am unable to find one.



Let me expand on what I mean by the negation. Consider the following table:



| phrase                   | single word | doesn't exist | don't know | exists |
|--------------------------|:-----------:|:-------------:|:----------:|:------:|
| allowed to exist | allowed | no | yes | yes |
| allowed to be missing | ??? | yes | yes | no |
| guaranteed to exist | guaranteed | no | no | yes |
| guaranteed to be missing | prohibited | yes | no | no |


Note, that the first and the fourth case are supposed to be negations of each other, just like the second and the third case. Thus, if I say that something is not allowed to exist (allowed), then it is guaranteed to be missing (prohibited). Also, if I say that something is not allowed to be missing (???), then it is guaranteed to exist (guaranteed).



Thus, my question is: Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing"?



This question can be rephrased to: Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?










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    6 hours ago
















9















I want to express my knowledge about the presence of absence of something. My knowledge is divided into three different cases:




  • I know that the thing doesn't exist.

  • I don't know whether the thing exists.

  • I know that the thing exists.


Sadly, neither of those is the negation of another one. However, I can define four cases, where each case is the negation of another case:




  1. Something is allowed to exist. (allowed)

  2. Something is allowed to be missing. (???)

  3. Something is guaranteed to exist. (guaranteed)

  4. Something is guaranteed to be missing. (prohibited)


I want to describe each of these cases by a single word, which is supposed to clearly distinguish it from the other three cases. As you can see, I already found three of the words. However, in the second case I am unable to find one.



Let me expand on what I mean by the negation. Consider the following table:



| phrase                   | single word | doesn't exist | don't know | exists |
|--------------------------|:-----------:|:-------------:|:----------:|:------:|
| allowed to exist | allowed | no | yes | yes |
| allowed to be missing | ??? | yes | yes | no |
| guaranteed to exist | guaranteed | no | no | yes |
| guaranteed to be missing | prohibited | yes | no | no |


Note, that the first and the fourth case are supposed to be negations of each other, just like the second and the third case. Thus, if I say that something is not allowed to exist (allowed), then it is guaranteed to be missing (prohibited). Also, if I say that something is not allowed to be missing (???), then it is guaranteed to exist (guaranteed).



Thus, my question is: Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing"?



This question can be rephrased to: Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?










share|improve this question









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put on hold as unclear what you're asking by tchrist 6 hours ago


Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
















  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

    – tchrist
    6 hours ago














9












9








9








I want to express my knowledge about the presence of absence of something. My knowledge is divided into three different cases:




  • I know that the thing doesn't exist.

  • I don't know whether the thing exists.

  • I know that the thing exists.


Sadly, neither of those is the negation of another one. However, I can define four cases, where each case is the negation of another case:




  1. Something is allowed to exist. (allowed)

  2. Something is allowed to be missing. (???)

  3. Something is guaranteed to exist. (guaranteed)

  4. Something is guaranteed to be missing. (prohibited)


I want to describe each of these cases by a single word, which is supposed to clearly distinguish it from the other three cases. As you can see, I already found three of the words. However, in the second case I am unable to find one.



Let me expand on what I mean by the negation. Consider the following table:



| phrase                   | single word | doesn't exist | don't know | exists |
|--------------------------|:-----------:|:-------------:|:----------:|:------:|
| allowed to exist | allowed | no | yes | yes |
| allowed to be missing | ??? | yes | yes | no |
| guaranteed to exist | guaranteed | no | no | yes |
| guaranteed to be missing | prohibited | yes | no | no |


Note, that the first and the fourth case are supposed to be negations of each other, just like the second and the third case. Thus, if I say that something is not allowed to exist (allowed), then it is guaranteed to be missing (prohibited). Also, if I say that something is not allowed to be missing (???), then it is guaranteed to exist (guaranteed).



Thus, my question is: Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing"?



This question can be rephrased to: Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?










share|improve this question









New contributor




Stefan Dollase is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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I want to express my knowledge about the presence of absence of something. My knowledge is divided into three different cases:




  • I know that the thing doesn't exist.

  • I don't know whether the thing exists.

  • I know that the thing exists.


Sadly, neither of those is the negation of another one. However, I can define four cases, where each case is the negation of another case:




  1. Something is allowed to exist. (allowed)

  2. Something is allowed to be missing. (???)

  3. Something is guaranteed to exist. (guaranteed)

  4. Something is guaranteed to be missing. (prohibited)


I want to describe each of these cases by a single word, which is supposed to clearly distinguish it from the other three cases. As you can see, I already found three of the words. However, in the second case I am unable to find one.



Let me expand on what I mean by the negation. Consider the following table:



| phrase                   | single word | doesn't exist | don't know | exists |
|--------------------------|:-----------:|:-------------:|:----------:|:------:|
| allowed to exist | allowed | no | yes | yes |
| allowed to be missing | ??? | yes | yes | no |
| guaranteed to exist | guaranteed | no | no | yes |
| guaranteed to be missing | prohibited | yes | no | no |


Note, that the first and the fourth case are supposed to be negations of each other, just like the second and the third case. Thus, if I say that something is not allowed to exist (allowed), then it is guaranteed to be missing (prohibited). Also, if I say that something is not allowed to be missing (???), then it is guaranteed to exist (guaranteed).



Thus, my question is: Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing"?



This question can be rephrased to: Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?







single-word-requests terminology science logic






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edited yesterday







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put on hold as unclear what you're asking by tchrist 6 hours ago


Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.






put on hold as unclear what you're asking by tchrist 6 hours ago


Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.















  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

    – tchrist
    6 hours ago



















  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

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    6 hours ago

















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– tchrist
6 hours ago





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10 Answers
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active

oldest

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67














This is commonly denoted as optional:




available as a choice but not required




(source: Merriam-Webster)



Another example:




The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.







share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

    – Stefan Dollase
    yesterday






  • 30





    @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

    – only_pro
    yesterday








  • 3





    @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

    – Zebrafish
    yesterday











  • @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

    – John Hamilton
    17 hours ago








  • 1





    @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

    – Zebrafish
    16 hours ago





















26














Something that is allowed to be missing is omissible. Wordreference.com defines omissible as:




capable of being or allowed to be omitted




https://www.wordreference.com/definition/omissible



In English grammar the object relative pronoun is omissible:




The book (that) I wanted to buy was sold-out.







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  • I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

    – Stefan Dollase
    yesterday






  • 2





    I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

    – Flydog57
    13 hours ago






  • 1





    I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

    – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
    11 hours ago













  • @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

    – Araucaria
    6 hours ago



















10














The usual mathematical terms for these things (from the study of modal logic) are 'necessary' (for your 'guaranteed') and 'possible' (for your 'allowed'). All you need is negation to get all four possiblities.




  • necessary - it must exist

  • possible - it may exist

  • not necessary - it may not exist

  • not possible - it cannot exist


Depending on your (choice of) logic those two in the middle may be the same.



For a logic of probabilities, where 0 <= p <= 1:




  • necessary: p=1

  • possible: p > 0

  • not necessary: p < 1

  • not possible: p = 0


For example, you can see that 'not possible' is the same is the complement of 'possible'.



This mathematical use of these words follows our informal meaning.



So to your specific questions:





  • Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing?



    With respect to probability, this means that it could be any probability. So any combination that covers all possibilities, 'necessary or not necessary'




  • Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?



    By negation, there are two possibilities that informal English allows. 1) the set complement, 2) the other point extreme of the spectrum.




    • For the set complement it is 'not necessary'.

    • for the other extreme it is 'not possible'.








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  • 6





    It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

    – Kamil Drakari
    yesterday











  • Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

    – Stefan Dollase
    yesterday













  • single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

    – Mitch
    yesterday





















9














This question is confusing as hell, but I think "unnecessary" or any of its synonyms might fit, depending on what you mean exactly, as I'm confused.




Something is allowed. (allowed to exist)
Something is
unnecessary (allowed to be missing)




You also have the condition:




Also, if I say that something is not ??? (allowed to be missing), then
it is guaranteed (guaranteed to exist).




If you place "unnecessary" or "unrequired" or "unneeded" where you placed the question marks, does that satisfy your needs? In other words, if something is not "unnecessary", or not "unrequired", or not "unneeded", does it make then make it guaranteed? I don't know.






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  • Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

    – Stefan Dollase
    yesterday











  • "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

    – rackandboneman
    11 hours ago











  • @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

    – Matt Samuel
    7 hours ago



















3














dispensable




"More than you need and therefore not necessary; that can be got rid of."




Cambridge Dictionary






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  • 1





    And its cousin, nonindispensible.

    – Owen
    yesterday



















2














I would say RELEASED.



According to Macmillan Dictionary
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/release_1?q=Release+#release_1__28:



RELEASE



FORMAL 



to allow someone not to have to do something



release someone from something: 



We were released from our classes in order to take part in the celebration.






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  • Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

    – Stefan Dollase
    yesterday











  • @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

    – Chemomechanics
    yesterday





















2














I think the word you probably want is absent. If something is absent that means it is not here, and that can either be because it exists elsewhere, or because it does not have the existence necessary to be present anywhere, per the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's definitions:





  1. Not in a certain place at a given time; not in consciousness or thought at a certain time; away: opposed to present.

  2. Not existing; wanting; not forming a part or attribute of: as, among them refinement is absent; revenge is entirely absent from his mind.





Although it uses the nominal form of the word rather than the adjectival form, a phrase that very nicely demonstrates this is "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a popular phrase in our current century according to Seth Augenstein, in the online Forensic Magazine article When is the Absence of Evidence Evidence of Absence?



The phrase itself is a good example because absence is used both ways. In the first case, we simply do not have the evidence to prove something exists at this point in time, yet that does not necessarily mean it is nowhere to be found as suggested by the second. It is a common rebuttal to the argumentum ad ignorantiam fallacy, particularly where somebody wishes to furnish the missing evidence. Consider this explanation excerpted from chapter 13 of Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Selected Essays by David Zarefsky for instance:




Ordinarily the argument from ignorance is regarded as a fallacy in reasoning. It was first given the name argumentum ad ignorantiam by John Locke, and is one of the group of "ad-fallacies" that appeal to irrelevant considerations in order to warrant an inference. The fact that we do not know A to be true is no more reason to conclude that it is false than to regard it as true. The fallacy converts extistential doubt into a conclusive assertion of either truth or falsity.




The only problem with it, in my opinion, is that it is simply an adjective, rather than a past participle (in summary: a verb inflected in past tense form to be used as an adjective) so it would seem out of place among the other examples, but I think an actual adjective should suffice for all practical intents and purposes or at least for the table.






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    1














    My initial thought was excused, just from reading the title alone. A person is excused if permitted to be absent.



    However, I think exempt (or exempted) is a better fit. Wiktionary has a nice, concise definition:




    Free from a duty or obligation.




    In this case, free from the duty or obligation to exist.






    share|improve this answer































      1














      Based on your table, it seems you have 2 booleans, existence and knowledge, giving 4 combinations. You want to name these 4 combinations, but this only makes sense from the perspective of a knowledgable 3rd party.



      For example, if I had a ball and a screen and two people sitting on opposite sides of table. Person A either places the ball on the table or not and either places a screen in front of person B or not. From Person A's perspective:



      Ball    Screen   Word(s)
      YES NO Guaranteed / Exposed
      NO NO Prohibited / Voided
      YES YES Cloaked / Obscured
      NO YES Evoked / Hinted


      evoke: To cause the manifestation of something (emotion, picture, etc.) in someone's mind or imagination. [ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evoke#English ]






      share|improve this answer








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        1














        Is your use case Speech? (IE. story telling or writing) Where your intention is to somehow say a character does not know whether a thing exists, but let the reader now it actually does?



        The Yes/No nature of the object's existence is hidden by the speaker in most contexts not being able to know the result, so the person speaking the word could never choose the correct one themselves, only an omniscient observer (narrator) could, and it would be in order to signal to the reader the distinction.



        In which case you would need to have the narrator remind the person reading of this often enough that they would remember your interpretation of the word.



        If so I guess you might use



        Omittable.



        If this for some list of items, where you DO know whether or not something exists, but you want to denote it's optional, without having a second column.



        Or if the user does know the thing exists, and does know whether an optional item exists or not, and wants to denote the item's presence or non-presence and denote the item may or may not exist but it could be created I would use:



        Present



        or



        Existing



        Could exist and does right now.



        And



        Missing



        or



        Omitted



        Could exist, but doesn't right now.



        As a Note:



        These are binary and mutually exclusive states with can exist and can not exist, so only in very specific contexts would this sort of distinction be useful, (as above) but so below we can see why this isn't something that makes a lot of sense to talk about either.



        EXISTS YES / NO (1/0)

        Can Exist: YES / NO

        Does / Does Not (Exist)
        CAN EXIST YES / YES
        CANT EXIST NO / NO


        So I only came around because I believe you're trying to come up with are ADJECTIVES, but you have the form written as VERBS! That seems to be the heart of the confusion!






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          10 Answers
          10






          active

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          10 Answers
          10






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          67














          This is commonly denoted as optional:




          available as a choice but not required




          (source: Merriam-Webster)



          Another example:




          The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.







          share|improve this answer



















          • 1





            Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 30





            @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

            – only_pro
            yesterday








          • 3





            @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

            – Zebrafish
            yesterday











          • @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

            – John Hamilton
            17 hours ago








          • 1





            @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

            – Zebrafish
            16 hours ago


















          67














          This is commonly denoted as optional:




          available as a choice but not required




          (source: Merriam-Webster)



          Another example:




          The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.







          share|improve this answer



















          • 1





            Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 30





            @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

            – only_pro
            yesterday








          • 3





            @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

            – Zebrafish
            yesterday











          • @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

            – John Hamilton
            17 hours ago








          • 1





            @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

            – Zebrafish
            16 hours ago
















          67












          67








          67







          This is commonly denoted as optional:




          available as a choice but not required




          (source: Merriam-Webster)



          Another example:




          The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.







          share|improve this answer













          This is commonly denoted as optional:




          available as a choice but not required




          (source: Merriam-Webster)



          Another example:




          The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.








          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          GlorfindelGlorfindel

          6,76783440




          6,76783440








          • 1





            Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 30





            @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

            – only_pro
            yesterday








          • 3





            @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

            – Zebrafish
            yesterday











          • @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

            – John Hamilton
            17 hours ago








          • 1





            @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

            – Zebrafish
            16 hours ago
















          • 1





            Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 30





            @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

            – only_pro
            yesterday








          • 3





            @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

            – Zebrafish
            yesterday











          • @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

            – John Hamilton
            17 hours ago








          • 1





            @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

            – Zebrafish
            16 hours ago










          1




          1





          Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday





          Thanks for your suggestion! However, I think it fails to draw a clear line between the first and the second case. I edited the question to clarify the difference.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday




          30




          30





          @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

          – only_pro
          yesterday







          @StefanDollase That's because there is no difference between the first and second case. If it's "allowed to be there (but doesn't have to be)", that's the same exact thing as "allowed to be missing (but could be there)". Literally the same thing. In English, we call this optional. "Omissable" is likely to confuse some people, whereas "optional" would be immediately understood by everyone. This is by far the best answer, and probably the only answer that fits.

          – only_pro
          yesterday






          3




          3





          @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

          – Zebrafish
          yesterday





          @only_pro This is what I thought, which confused me. "Allowed" and "unnecessary" logically mean the same thing, but pragmatically don't. If a teacher says "you are allowed to bring a calculator to the test", that most likely means something different from "It's unnecessary to bring a calculator to the test." In both cases the calculator is "allowed", but the meaning intended by the teacher is likely difference, ie., maybe something like "It might be a good idea to use a calculator" versus "You really won't need a calculator because it's easy."

          – Zebrafish
          yesterday













          @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

          – John Hamilton
          17 hours ago







          @Zebrafish I think what you need to compare is "You are allowed to bring a calculator to the test." versus "You are allowed to not bring a calculator to the test." both mean the same thing logically (second one sounds odd but it's the case of "allowed to be missing") or you can just insert text books and class to the sentence. "You are allowed to use text books in the class." versus "You are allowed to not use text books in the class." they're the same thing. The underlying implication has nothing to do with the logic of the matter.

          – John Hamilton
          17 hours ago






          1




          1





          @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

          – Zebrafish
          16 hours ago







          @JohnHamilton Not to mention I don't understand the table. Under "allowed to exist" the "don't know" value is "yes", which is correct, but the value of "exists" is "yes" and the value of "doesn't exist" is "no". If we don't know, how could they have either yes or no as values for "exists" and "doesn't exist"? Haha.

          – Zebrafish
          16 hours ago















          26














          Something that is allowed to be missing is omissible. Wordreference.com defines omissible as:




          capable of being or allowed to be omitted




          https://www.wordreference.com/definition/omissible



          In English grammar the object relative pronoun is omissible:




          The book (that) I wanted to buy was sold-out.







          share|improve this answer
























          • I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 2





            I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

            – Flydog57
            13 hours ago






          • 1





            I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

            – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
            11 hours ago













          • @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

            – Araucaria
            6 hours ago
















          26














          Something that is allowed to be missing is omissible. Wordreference.com defines omissible as:




          capable of being or allowed to be omitted




          https://www.wordreference.com/definition/omissible



          In English grammar the object relative pronoun is omissible:




          The book (that) I wanted to buy was sold-out.







          share|improve this answer
























          • I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 2





            I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

            – Flydog57
            13 hours ago






          • 1





            I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

            – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
            11 hours ago













          • @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

            – Araucaria
            6 hours ago














          26












          26








          26







          Something that is allowed to be missing is omissible. Wordreference.com defines omissible as:




          capable of being or allowed to be omitted




          https://www.wordreference.com/definition/omissible



          In English grammar the object relative pronoun is omissible:




          The book (that) I wanted to buy was sold-out.







          share|improve this answer













          Something that is allowed to be missing is omissible. Wordreference.com defines omissible as:




          capable of being or allowed to be omitted




          https://www.wordreference.com/definition/omissible



          In English grammar the object relative pronoun is omissible:




          The book (that) I wanted to buy was sold-out.








          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          ShoeShoe

          25.3k43886




          25.3k43886













          • I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 2





            I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

            – Flydog57
            13 hours ago






          • 1





            I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

            – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
            11 hours ago













          • @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

            – Araucaria
            6 hours ago



















          • I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday






          • 2





            I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

            – Flydog57
            13 hours ago






          • 1





            I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

            – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
            11 hours ago













          • @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

            – Araucaria
            6 hours ago

















          I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday





          I think this is a good one. However, I will wait to accept your answer for a few days, hoping to receive several more suggestions.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday




          2




          2





          I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

          – Flydog57
          13 hours ago





          I'd be curious to know if anyone here has ever seen, heard or used the word omissible. I get funny looks when I use promulgate or impracticable, but I can't imagine using omissible.

          – Flydog57
          13 hours ago




          1




          1





          I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

          – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
          11 hours ago







          I have heard "omittable" which is apparently not a word and the actual word is "omissible" (which I have never heard.) I would bet that in 10 years or so, "omittable" will show up in the dictionaries as an alternative to omissible.

          – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
          11 hours ago















          @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

          – Araucaria
          6 hours ago





          @Flydog57 I heard it today in a training session.

          – Araucaria
          6 hours ago











          10














          The usual mathematical terms for these things (from the study of modal logic) are 'necessary' (for your 'guaranteed') and 'possible' (for your 'allowed'). All you need is negation to get all four possiblities.




          • necessary - it must exist

          • possible - it may exist

          • not necessary - it may not exist

          • not possible - it cannot exist


          Depending on your (choice of) logic those two in the middle may be the same.



          For a logic of probabilities, where 0 <= p <= 1:




          • necessary: p=1

          • possible: p > 0

          • not necessary: p < 1

          • not possible: p = 0


          For example, you can see that 'not possible' is the same is the complement of 'possible'.



          This mathematical use of these words follows our informal meaning.



          So to your specific questions:





          • Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing?



            With respect to probability, this means that it could be any probability. So any combination that covers all possibilities, 'necessary or not necessary'




          • Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?



            By negation, there are two possibilities that informal English allows. 1) the set complement, 2) the other point extreme of the spectrum.




            • For the set complement it is 'not necessary'.

            • for the other extreme it is 'not possible'.








          share|improve this answer





















          • 6





            It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

            – Kamil Drakari
            yesterday











          • Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday













          • single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

            – Mitch
            yesterday


















          10














          The usual mathematical terms for these things (from the study of modal logic) are 'necessary' (for your 'guaranteed') and 'possible' (for your 'allowed'). All you need is negation to get all four possiblities.




          • necessary - it must exist

          • possible - it may exist

          • not necessary - it may not exist

          • not possible - it cannot exist


          Depending on your (choice of) logic those two in the middle may be the same.



          For a logic of probabilities, where 0 <= p <= 1:




          • necessary: p=1

          • possible: p > 0

          • not necessary: p < 1

          • not possible: p = 0


          For example, you can see that 'not possible' is the same is the complement of 'possible'.



          This mathematical use of these words follows our informal meaning.



          So to your specific questions:





          • Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing?



            With respect to probability, this means that it could be any probability. So any combination that covers all possibilities, 'necessary or not necessary'




          • Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?



            By negation, there are two possibilities that informal English allows. 1) the set complement, 2) the other point extreme of the spectrum.




            • For the set complement it is 'not necessary'.

            • for the other extreme it is 'not possible'.








          share|improve this answer





















          • 6





            It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

            – Kamil Drakari
            yesterday











          • Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday













          • single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

            – Mitch
            yesterday
















          10












          10








          10







          The usual mathematical terms for these things (from the study of modal logic) are 'necessary' (for your 'guaranteed') and 'possible' (for your 'allowed'). All you need is negation to get all four possiblities.




          • necessary - it must exist

          • possible - it may exist

          • not necessary - it may not exist

          • not possible - it cannot exist


          Depending on your (choice of) logic those two in the middle may be the same.



          For a logic of probabilities, where 0 <= p <= 1:




          • necessary: p=1

          • possible: p > 0

          • not necessary: p < 1

          • not possible: p = 0


          For example, you can see that 'not possible' is the same is the complement of 'possible'.



          This mathematical use of these words follows our informal meaning.



          So to your specific questions:





          • Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing?



            With respect to probability, this means that it could be any probability. So any combination that covers all possibilities, 'necessary or not necessary'




          • Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?



            By negation, there are two possibilities that informal English allows. 1) the set complement, 2) the other point extreme of the spectrum.




            • For the set complement it is 'not necessary'.

            • for the other extreme it is 'not possible'.








          share|improve this answer















          The usual mathematical terms for these things (from the study of modal logic) are 'necessary' (for your 'guaranteed') and 'possible' (for your 'allowed'). All you need is negation to get all four possiblities.




          • necessary - it must exist

          • possible - it may exist

          • not necessary - it may not exist

          • not possible - it cannot exist


          Depending on your (choice of) logic those two in the middle may be the same.



          For a logic of probabilities, where 0 <= p <= 1:




          • necessary: p=1

          • possible: p > 0

          • not necessary: p < 1

          • not possible: p = 0


          For example, you can see that 'not possible' is the same is the complement of 'possible'.



          This mathematical use of these words follows our informal meaning.



          So to your specific questions:





          • Which single word is able to replace the phrase "allowed to be missing?



            With respect to probability, this means that it could be any probability. So any combination that covers all possibilities, 'necessary or not necessary'




          • Which single word is the exact negation of "guaranteed to exist"?



            By negation, there are two possibilities that informal English allows. 1) the set complement, 2) the other point extreme of the spectrum.




            • For the set complement it is 'not necessary'.

            • for the other extreme it is 'not possible'.









          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited yesterday

























          answered yesterday









          MitchMitch

          51.2k15103213




          51.2k15103213








          • 6





            It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

            – Kamil Drakari
            yesterday











          • Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday













          • single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

            – Mitch
            yesterday
















          • 6





            It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

            – Kamil Drakari
            yesterday











          • Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday













          • single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

            – Mitch
            yesterday










          6




          6





          It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

          – Kamil Drakari
          yesterday





          It's worth noting that both "not necessary" and "not possible" have single-word equivalents if truly needed ("unnecessary" and "impossible").

          – Kamil Drakari
          yesterday













          Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday







          Thanks for the detailed answer. Even though I don't work with probabilities, the four cases match my four cases (allowed = possible, not necessary = ???, guaranteed = necessary, prohibited = not possible). Here, the not directly clarifies which case is a negation of which other case, so that is nice. By exact negation I meant the set complement, so the case I was looking for is "not necessary". I was hoping to find a single word for each of these cases. However, allowed is already confusing. So maybe I will stick with (not) possible/necessary. They at least seem to be clear. Thanks =)

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday















          single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

          – Mitch
          yesterday







          single words: unnecessary, impossible (but unnecessary implies something about not being wanted, which the others don't have).

          – Mitch
          yesterday













          9














          This question is confusing as hell, but I think "unnecessary" or any of its synonyms might fit, depending on what you mean exactly, as I'm confused.




          Something is allowed. (allowed to exist)
          Something is
          unnecessary (allowed to be missing)




          You also have the condition:




          Also, if I say that something is not ??? (allowed to be missing), then
          it is guaranteed (guaranteed to exist).




          If you place "unnecessary" or "unrequired" or "unneeded" where you placed the question marks, does that satisfy your needs? In other words, if something is not "unnecessary", or not "unrequired", or not "unneeded", does it make then make it guaranteed? I don't know.






          share|improve this answer
























          • Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

            – rackandboneman
            11 hours ago











          • @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

            – Matt Samuel
            7 hours ago
















          9














          This question is confusing as hell, but I think "unnecessary" or any of its synonyms might fit, depending on what you mean exactly, as I'm confused.




          Something is allowed. (allowed to exist)
          Something is
          unnecessary (allowed to be missing)




          You also have the condition:




          Also, if I say that something is not ??? (allowed to be missing), then
          it is guaranteed (guaranteed to exist).




          If you place "unnecessary" or "unrequired" or "unneeded" where you placed the question marks, does that satisfy your needs? In other words, if something is not "unnecessary", or not "unrequired", or not "unneeded", does it make then make it guaranteed? I don't know.






          share|improve this answer
























          • Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

            – rackandboneman
            11 hours ago











          • @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

            – Matt Samuel
            7 hours ago














          9












          9








          9







          This question is confusing as hell, but I think "unnecessary" or any of its synonyms might fit, depending on what you mean exactly, as I'm confused.




          Something is allowed. (allowed to exist)
          Something is
          unnecessary (allowed to be missing)




          You also have the condition:




          Also, if I say that something is not ??? (allowed to be missing), then
          it is guaranteed (guaranteed to exist).




          If you place "unnecessary" or "unrequired" or "unneeded" where you placed the question marks, does that satisfy your needs? In other words, if something is not "unnecessary", or not "unrequired", or not "unneeded", does it make then make it guaranteed? I don't know.






          share|improve this answer













          This question is confusing as hell, but I think "unnecessary" or any of its synonyms might fit, depending on what you mean exactly, as I'm confused.




          Something is allowed. (allowed to exist)
          Something is
          unnecessary (allowed to be missing)




          You also have the condition:




          Also, if I say that something is not ??? (allowed to be missing), then
          it is guaranteed (guaranteed to exist).




          If you place "unnecessary" or "unrequired" or "unneeded" where you placed the question marks, does that satisfy your needs? In other words, if something is not "unnecessary", or not "unrequired", or not "unneeded", does it make then make it guaranteed? I don't know.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          ZebrafishZebrafish

          9,24431333




          9,24431333













          • Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

            – rackandboneman
            11 hours ago











          • @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

            – Matt Samuel
            7 hours ago



















          • Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

            – rackandboneman
            11 hours ago











          • @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

            – Matt Samuel
            7 hours ago

















          Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday





          Thanks for your suggestions. These seem to be fitting. However, they all start with "un", so they really are the negation of another word, which generally does not help to understand complex sentences which contain several more logical connectors. What I mean to say is: These are negative terms to express the requested meaning. However, I am looking for positive words.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday













          "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

          – rackandboneman
          11 hours ago





          "unnecessary" has much more of a connotation of "useless anyway" than "optional" :)

          – rackandboneman
          11 hours ago













          @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

          – Matt Samuel
          7 hours ago





          @stefan The negation of a word is "not" followed by the word. The word with the opposite meaning is a different word. There are words that start with a negation that can't be removed, e.g. nonsensical.

          – Matt Samuel
          7 hours ago











          3














          dispensable




          "More than you need and therefore not necessary; that can be got rid of."




          Cambridge Dictionary






          share|improve this answer





















          • 1





            And its cousin, nonindispensible.

            – Owen
            yesterday
















          3














          dispensable




          "More than you need and therefore not necessary; that can be got rid of."




          Cambridge Dictionary






          share|improve this answer





















          • 1





            And its cousin, nonindispensible.

            – Owen
            yesterday














          3












          3








          3







          dispensable




          "More than you need and therefore not necessary; that can be got rid of."




          Cambridge Dictionary






          share|improve this answer















          dispensable




          "More than you need and therefore not necessary; that can be got rid of."




          Cambridge Dictionary







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 15 hours ago

























          answered yesterday









          Pedro LobitoPedro Lobito

          1314




          1314








          • 1





            And its cousin, nonindispensible.

            – Owen
            yesterday














          • 1





            And its cousin, nonindispensible.

            – Owen
            yesterday








          1




          1





          And its cousin, nonindispensible.

          – Owen
          yesterday





          And its cousin, nonindispensible.

          – Owen
          yesterday











          2














          I would say RELEASED.



          According to Macmillan Dictionary
          https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/release_1?q=Release+#release_1__28:



          RELEASE



          FORMAL 



          to allow someone not to have to do something



          release someone from something: 



          We were released from our classes in order to take part in the celebration.






          share|improve this answer
























          • Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

            – Chemomechanics
            yesterday


















          2














          I would say RELEASED.



          According to Macmillan Dictionary
          https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/release_1?q=Release+#release_1__28:



          RELEASE



          FORMAL 



          to allow someone not to have to do something



          release someone from something: 



          We were released from our classes in order to take part in the celebration.






          share|improve this answer
























          • Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

            – Chemomechanics
            yesterday
















          2












          2








          2







          I would say RELEASED.



          According to Macmillan Dictionary
          https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/release_1?q=Release+#release_1__28:



          RELEASE



          FORMAL 



          to allow someone not to have to do something



          release someone from something: 



          We were released from our classes in order to take part in the celebration.






          share|improve this answer













          I would say RELEASED.



          According to Macmillan Dictionary
          https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/release_1?q=Release+#release_1__28:



          RELEASE



          FORMAL 



          to allow someone not to have to do something



          release someone from something: 



          We were released from our classes in order to take part in the celebration.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          user307254user307254

          3,498515




          3,498515













          • Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

            – Chemomechanics
            yesterday





















          • Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

            – Stefan Dollase
            yesterday











          • @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

            – Chemomechanics
            yesterday



















          Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday





          Thanks for the suggestion. However, I don't think it fits my use case. I want to talk about the presence or absence of a thing, but I don't feel like Something is released to exist. is a proper sentence. However, I am not a native English speaker, so please let me know whether this is actually proper English.

          – Stefan Dollase
          yesterday













          @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

          – Chemomechanics
          yesterday







          @StefanDollase You're right; "released to exist" doesn't work. One could say "released from the requirement of existing", but this reads as stilted.

          – Chemomechanics
          yesterday













          2














          I think the word you probably want is absent. If something is absent that means it is not here, and that can either be because it exists elsewhere, or because it does not have the existence necessary to be present anywhere, per the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's definitions:





          1. Not in a certain place at a given time; not in consciousness or thought at a certain time; away: opposed to present.

          2. Not existing; wanting; not forming a part or attribute of: as, among them refinement is absent; revenge is entirely absent from his mind.





          Although it uses the nominal form of the word rather than the adjectival form, a phrase that very nicely demonstrates this is "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a popular phrase in our current century according to Seth Augenstein, in the online Forensic Magazine article When is the Absence of Evidence Evidence of Absence?



          The phrase itself is a good example because absence is used both ways. In the first case, we simply do not have the evidence to prove something exists at this point in time, yet that does not necessarily mean it is nowhere to be found as suggested by the second. It is a common rebuttal to the argumentum ad ignorantiam fallacy, particularly where somebody wishes to furnish the missing evidence. Consider this explanation excerpted from chapter 13 of Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Selected Essays by David Zarefsky for instance:




          Ordinarily the argument from ignorance is regarded as a fallacy in reasoning. It was first given the name argumentum ad ignorantiam by John Locke, and is one of the group of "ad-fallacies" that appeal to irrelevant considerations in order to warrant an inference. The fact that we do not know A to be true is no more reason to conclude that it is false than to regard it as true. The fallacy converts extistential doubt into a conclusive assertion of either truth or falsity.




          The only problem with it, in my opinion, is that it is simply an adjective, rather than a past participle (in summary: a verb inflected in past tense form to be used as an adjective) so it would seem out of place among the other examples, but I think an actual adjective should suffice for all practical intents and purposes or at least for the table.






          share|improve this answer






























            2














            I think the word you probably want is absent. If something is absent that means it is not here, and that can either be because it exists elsewhere, or because it does not have the existence necessary to be present anywhere, per the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's definitions:





            1. Not in a certain place at a given time; not in consciousness or thought at a certain time; away: opposed to present.

            2. Not existing; wanting; not forming a part or attribute of: as, among them refinement is absent; revenge is entirely absent from his mind.





            Although it uses the nominal form of the word rather than the adjectival form, a phrase that very nicely demonstrates this is "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a popular phrase in our current century according to Seth Augenstein, in the online Forensic Magazine article When is the Absence of Evidence Evidence of Absence?



            The phrase itself is a good example because absence is used both ways. In the first case, we simply do not have the evidence to prove something exists at this point in time, yet that does not necessarily mean it is nowhere to be found as suggested by the second. It is a common rebuttal to the argumentum ad ignorantiam fallacy, particularly where somebody wishes to furnish the missing evidence. Consider this explanation excerpted from chapter 13 of Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Selected Essays by David Zarefsky for instance:




            Ordinarily the argument from ignorance is regarded as a fallacy in reasoning. It was first given the name argumentum ad ignorantiam by John Locke, and is one of the group of "ad-fallacies" that appeal to irrelevant considerations in order to warrant an inference. The fact that we do not know A to be true is no more reason to conclude that it is false than to regard it as true. The fallacy converts extistential doubt into a conclusive assertion of either truth or falsity.




            The only problem with it, in my opinion, is that it is simply an adjective, rather than a past participle (in summary: a verb inflected in past tense form to be used as an adjective) so it would seem out of place among the other examples, but I think an actual adjective should suffice for all practical intents and purposes or at least for the table.






            share|improve this answer




























              2












              2








              2







              I think the word you probably want is absent. If something is absent that means it is not here, and that can either be because it exists elsewhere, or because it does not have the existence necessary to be present anywhere, per the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's definitions:





              1. Not in a certain place at a given time; not in consciousness or thought at a certain time; away: opposed to present.

              2. Not existing; wanting; not forming a part or attribute of: as, among them refinement is absent; revenge is entirely absent from his mind.





              Although it uses the nominal form of the word rather than the adjectival form, a phrase that very nicely demonstrates this is "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a popular phrase in our current century according to Seth Augenstein, in the online Forensic Magazine article When is the Absence of Evidence Evidence of Absence?



              The phrase itself is a good example because absence is used both ways. In the first case, we simply do not have the evidence to prove something exists at this point in time, yet that does not necessarily mean it is nowhere to be found as suggested by the second. It is a common rebuttal to the argumentum ad ignorantiam fallacy, particularly where somebody wishes to furnish the missing evidence. Consider this explanation excerpted from chapter 13 of Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Selected Essays by David Zarefsky for instance:




              Ordinarily the argument from ignorance is regarded as a fallacy in reasoning. It was first given the name argumentum ad ignorantiam by John Locke, and is one of the group of "ad-fallacies" that appeal to irrelevant considerations in order to warrant an inference. The fact that we do not know A to be true is no more reason to conclude that it is false than to regard it as true. The fallacy converts extistential doubt into a conclusive assertion of either truth or falsity.




              The only problem with it, in my opinion, is that it is simply an adjective, rather than a past participle (in summary: a verb inflected in past tense form to be used as an adjective) so it would seem out of place among the other examples, but I think an actual adjective should suffice for all practical intents and purposes or at least for the table.






              share|improve this answer















              I think the word you probably want is absent. If something is absent that means it is not here, and that can either be because it exists elsewhere, or because it does not have the existence necessary to be present anywhere, per the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia's definitions:





              1. Not in a certain place at a given time; not in consciousness or thought at a certain time; away: opposed to present.

              2. Not existing; wanting; not forming a part or attribute of: as, among them refinement is absent; revenge is entirely absent from his mind.





              Although it uses the nominal form of the word rather than the adjectival form, a phrase that very nicely demonstrates this is "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence", which is a popular phrase in our current century according to Seth Augenstein, in the online Forensic Magazine article When is the Absence of Evidence Evidence of Absence?



              The phrase itself is a good example because absence is used both ways. In the first case, we simply do not have the evidence to prove something exists at this point in time, yet that does not necessarily mean it is nowhere to be found as suggested by the second. It is a common rebuttal to the argumentum ad ignorantiam fallacy, particularly where somebody wishes to furnish the missing evidence. Consider this explanation excerpted from chapter 13 of Political Argumentation in the United States: Historical and Contemporary Studies. Selected Essays by David Zarefsky for instance:




              Ordinarily the argument from ignorance is regarded as a fallacy in reasoning. It was first given the name argumentum ad ignorantiam by John Locke, and is one of the group of "ad-fallacies" that appeal to irrelevant considerations in order to warrant an inference. The fact that we do not know A to be true is no more reason to conclude that it is false than to regard it as true. The fallacy converts extistential doubt into a conclusive assertion of either truth or falsity.




              The only problem with it, in my opinion, is that it is simply an adjective, rather than a past participle (in summary: a verb inflected in past tense form to be used as an adjective) so it would seem out of place among the other examples, but I think an actual adjective should suffice for all practical intents and purposes or at least for the table.







              share|improve this answer














              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer








              edited yesterday

























              answered yesterday









              TonepoetTonepoet

              3,52011527




              3,52011527























                  1














                  My initial thought was excused, just from reading the title alone. A person is excused if permitted to be absent.



                  However, I think exempt (or exempted) is a better fit. Wiktionary has a nice, concise definition:




                  Free from a duty or obligation.




                  In this case, free from the duty or obligation to exist.






                  share|improve this answer




























                    1














                    My initial thought was excused, just from reading the title alone. A person is excused if permitted to be absent.



                    However, I think exempt (or exempted) is a better fit. Wiktionary has a nice, concise definition:




                    Free from a duty or obligation.




                    In this case, free from the duty or obligation to exist.






                    share|improve this answer


























                      1












                      1








                      1







                      My initial thought was excused, just from reading the title alone. A person is excused if permitted to be absent.



                      However, I think exempt (or exempted) is a better fit. Wiktionary has a nice, concise definition:




                      Free from a duty or obligation.




                      In this case, free from the duty or obligation to exist.






                      share|improve this answer













                      My initial thought was excused, just from reading the title alone. A person is excused if permitted to be absent.



                      However, I think exempt (or exempted) is a better fit. Wiktionary has a nice, concise definition:




                      Free from a duty or obligation.




                      In this case, free from the duty or obligation to exist.







                      share|improve this answer












                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer










                      answered yesterday









                      GooseberryGooseberry

                      21113




                      21113























                          1














                          Based on your table, it seems you have 2 booleans, existence and knowledge, giving 4 combinations. You want to name these 4 combinations, but this only makes sense from the perspective of a knowledgable 3rd party.



                          For example, if I had a ball and a screen and two people sitting on opposite sides of table. Person A either places the ball on the table or not and either places a screen in front of person B or not. From Person A's perspective:



                          Ball    Screen   Word(s)
                          YES NO Guaranteed / Exposed
                          NO NO Prohibited / Voided
                          YES YES Cloaked / Obscured
                          NO YES Evoked / Hinted


                          evoke: To cause the manifestation of something (emotion, picture, etc.) in someone's mind or imagination. [ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evoke#English ]






                          share|improve this answer








                          New contributor




                          aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                          Check out our Code of Conduct.

























                            1














                            Based on your table, it seems you have 2 booleans, existence and knowledge, giving 4 combinations. You want to name these 4 combinations, but this only makes sense from the perspective of a knowledgable 3rd party.



                            For example, if I had a ball and a screen and two people sitting on opposite sides of table. Person A either places the ball on the table or not and either places a screen in front of person B or not. From Person A's perspective:



                            Ball    Screen   Word(s)
                            YES NO Guaranteed / Exposed
                            NO NO Prohibited / Voided
                            YES YES Cloaked / Obscured
                            NO YES Evoked / Hinted


                            evoke: To cause the manifestation of something (emotion, picture, etc.) in someone's mind or imagination. [ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evoke#English ]






                            share|improve this answer








                            New contributor




                            aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                            Check out our Code of Conduct.























                              1












                              1








                              1







                              Based on your table, it seems you have 2 booleans, existence and knowledge, giving 4 combinations. You want to name these 4 combinations, but this only makes sense from the perspective of a knowledgable 3rd party.



                              For example, if I had a ball and a screen and two people sitting on opposite sides of table. Person A either places the ball on the table or not and either places a screen in front of person B or not. From Person A's perspective:



                              Ball    Screen   Word(s)
                              YES NO Guaranteed / Exposed
                              NO NO Prohibited / Voided
                              YES YES Cloaked / Obscured
                              NO YES Evoked / Hinted


                              evoke: To cause the manifestation of something (emotion, picture, etc.) in someone's mind or imagination. [ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evoke#English ]






                              share|improve this answer








                              New contributor




                              aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                              Check out our Code of Conduct.










                              Based on your table, it seems you have 2 booleans, existence and knowledge, giving 4 combinations. You want to name these 4 combinations, but this only makes sense from the perspective of a knowledgable 3rd party.



                              For example, if I had a ball and a screen and two people sitting on opposite sides of table. Person A either places the ball on the table or not and either places a screen in front of person B or not. From Person A's perspective:



                              Ball    Screen   Word(s)
                              YES NO Guaranteed / Exposed
                              NO NO Prohibited / Voided
                              YES YES Cloaked / Obscured
                              NO YES Evoked / Hinted


                              evoke: To cause the manifestation of something (emotion, picture, etc.) in someone's mind or imagination. [ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/evoke#English ]







                              share|improve this answer








                              New contributor




                              aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                              Check out our Code of Conduct.









                              share|improve this answer



                              share|improve this answer






                              New contributor




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                              answered 21 hours ago









                              aepryusaepryus

                              1113




                              1113




                              New contributor




                              aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                              New contributor





                              aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                              aepryus is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                                  1














                                  Is your use case Speech? (IE. story telling or writing) Where your intention is to somehow say a character does not know whether a thing exists, but let the reader now it actually does?



                                  The Yes/No nature of the object's existence is hidden by the speaker in most contexts not being able to know the result, so the person speaking the word could never choose the correct one themselves, only an omniscient observer (narrator) could, and it would be in order to signal to the reader the distinction.



                                  In which case you would need to have the narrator remind the person reading of this often enough that they would remember your interpretation of the word.



                                  If so I guess you might use



                                  Omittable.



                                  If this for some list of items, where you DO know whether or not something exists, but you want to denote it's optional, without having a second column.



                                  Or if the user does know the thing exists, and does know whether an optional item exists or not, and wants to denote the item's presence or non-presence and denote the item may or may not exist but it could be created I would use:



                                  Present



                                  or



                                  Existing



                                  Could exist and does right now.



                                  And



                                  Missing



                                  or



                                  Omitted



                                  Could exist, but doesn't right now.



                                  As a Note:



                                  These are binary and mutually exclusive states with can exist and can not exist, so only in very specific contexts would this sort of distinction be useful, (as above) but so below we can see why this isn't something that makes a lot of sense to talk about either.



                                  EXISTS YES / NO (1/0)

                                  Can Exist: YES / NO

                                  Does / Does Not (Exist)
                                  CAN EXIST YES / YES
                                  CANT EXIST NO / NO


                                  So I only came around because I believe you're trying to come up with are ADJECTIVES, but you have the form written as VERBS! That seems to be the heart of the confusion!






                                  share|improve this answer










                                  New contributor




                                  Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                                    1














                                    Is your use case Speech? (IE. story telling or writing) Where your intention is to somehow say a character does not know whether a thing exists, but let the reader now it actually does?



                                    The Yes/No nature of the object's existence is hidden by the speaker in most contexts not being able to know the result, so the person speaking the word could never choose the correct one themselves, only an omniscient observer (narrator) could, and it would be in order to signal to the reader the distinction.



                                    In which case you would need to have the narrator remind the person reading of this often enough that they would remember your interpretation of the word.



                                    If so I guess you might use



                                    Omittable.



                                    If this for some list of items, where you DO know whether or not something exists, but you want to denote it's optional, without having a second column.



                                    Or if the user does know the thing exists, and does know whether an optional item exists or not, and wants to denote the item's presence or non-presence and denote the item may or may not exist but it could be created I would use:



                                    Present



                                    or



                                    Existing



                                    Could exist and does right now.



                                    And



                                    Missing



                                    or



                                    Omitted



                                    Could exist, but doesn't right now.



                                    As a Note:



                                    These are binary and mutually exclusive states with can exist and can not exist, so only in very specific contexts would this sort of distinction be useful, (as above) but so below we can see why this isn't something that makes a lot of sense to talk about either.



                                    EXISTS YES / NO (1/0)

                                    Can Exist: YES / NO

                                    Does / Does Not (Exist)
                                    CAN EXIST YES / YES
                                    CANT EXIST NO / NO


                                    So I only came around because I believe you're trying to come up with are ADJECTIVES, but you have the form written as VERBS! That seems to be the heart of the confusion!






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                                      Is your use case Speech? (IE. story telling or writing) Where your intention is to somehow say a character does not know whether a thing exists, but let the reader now it actually does?



                                      The Yes/No nature of the object's existence is hidden by the speaker in most contexts not being able to know the result, so the person speaking the word could never choose the correct one themselves, only an omniscient observer (narrator) could, and it would be in order to signal to the reader the distinction.



                                      In which case you would need to have the narrator remind the person reading of this often enough that they would remember your interpretation of the word.



                                      If so I guess you might use



                                      Omittable.



                                      If this for some list of items, where you DO know whether or not something exists, but you want to denote it's optional, without having a second column.



                                      Or if the user does know the thing exists, and does know whether an optional item exists or not, and wants to denote the item's presence or non-presence and denote the item may or may not exist but it could be created I would use:



                                      Present



                                      or



                                      Existing



                                      Could exist and does right now.



                                      And



                                      Missing



                                      or



                                      Omitted



                                      Could exist, but doesn't right now.



                                      As a Note:



                                      These are binary and mutually exclusive states with can exist and can not exist, so only in very specific contexts would this sort of distinction be useful, (as above) but so below we can see why this isn't something that makes a lot of sense to talk about either.



                                      EXISTS YES / NO (1/0)

                                      Can Exist: YES / NO

                                      Does / Does Not (Exist)
                                      CAN EXIST YES / YES
                                      CANT EXIST NO / NO


                                      So I only came around because I believe you're trying to come up with are ADJECTIVES, but you have the form written as VERBS! That seems to be the heart of the confusion!






                                      share|improve this answer










                                      New contributor




                                      Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                      Check out our Code of Conduct.










                                      Is your use case Speech? (IE. story telling or writing) Where your intention is to somehow say a character does not know whether a thing exists, but let the reader now it actually does?



                                      The Yes/No nature of the object's existence is hidden by the speaker in most contexts not being able to know the result, so the person speaking the word could never choose the correct one themselves, only an omniscient observer (narrator) could, and it would be in order to signal to the reader the distinction.



                                      In which case you would need to have the narrator remind the person reading of this often enough that they would remember your interpretation of the word.



                                      If so I guess you might use



                                      Omittable.



                                      If this for some list of items, where you DO know whether or not something exists, but you want to denote it's optional, without having a second column.



                                      Or if the user does know the thing exists, and does know whether an optional item exists or not, and wants to denote the item's presence or non-presence and denote the item may or may not exist but it could be created I would use:



                                      Present



                                      or



                                      Existing



                                      Could exist and does right now.



                                      And



                                      Missing



                                      or



                                      Omitted



                                      Could exist, but doesn't right now.



                                      As a Note:



                                      These are binary and mutually exclusive states with can exist and can not exist, so only in very specific contexts would this sort of distinction be useful, (as above) but so below we can see why this isn't something that makes a lot of sense to talk about either.



                                      EXISTS YES / NO (1/0)

                                      Can Exist: YES / NO

                                      Does / Does Not (Exist)
                                      CAN EXIST YES / YES
                                      CANT EXIST NO / NO


                                      So I only came around because I believe you're trying to come up with are ADJECTIVES, but you have the form written as VERBS! That seems to be the heart of the confusion!







                                      share|improve this answer










                                      New contributor




                                      Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                      Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                      share|improve this answer



                                      share|improve this answer








                                      edited 8 hours ago





















                                      New contributor




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                                      answered 8 hours ago









                                      Ben PersonickBen Personick

                                      1113




                                      1113




                                      New contributor




                                      Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                      Check out our Code of Conduct.





                                      New contributor





                                      Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                      Check out our Code of Conduct.






                                      Ben Personick is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                      Check out our Code of Conduct.

















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