Meanings
- uncountableThe state or condition of being purposive.
The tumultuous debate within me gradually was resolving itself into an icy purposivity midway between determination and resignation.
1948, Percy Winner, chapter 20, in The Mote and the Beam, New York: Harcourt, Brace, page 3321 more example
The species-preserving purposivity of higher organisms is no greater than that of the lowest forms of life, and Jakob von Uexküll was entirely justified in stating that all living organisms are equally well adapted to their environments.
1996, Konrad Lorenz, chapter 5, in Robert D. Martin, transl., The Natural Science of the Human Species, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, page 93Synonyms: purposiveness
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state or condition of being purposive.
Origin
Cite this entry
purposivity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purposivity
“purposivity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purposivity. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “purposivity,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purposivity.
Source: purposivity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.