- predicament
- late 14c., "that which is asserted" (a term in logic), from M.L. predicamentum, from L.L. prędicamentum "quality, category, something predicted," from L. prędicatus, pp. of prędicare (see predicate), a loan-translation of Gk. kategoria, Aristotle's word. The meaning "unpleasant situation" is first recorded 1580s.