The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Condition \Con*di"tion\, n. [F., fr. L. conditio (better
   condicio) agreement, compact, condition; con- + a root
   signifying to show, point out, akin to dicere to say, dicare
   to proclaim, dedicate. See Teach, Token.]
   1. Mode or state of being; state or situation with regard to
      external circumstances or influences, or to physical or
      mental integrity, health, strength, etc.; predicament;
      rank; position, estate.
      [1913 Webster]

            I am in my condition
            A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king. --Shak.
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            And O, what man's condition can be worse
            Than his whom plenty starves and blessings curse?
                                                  --Cowley.
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            The new conditions of life.           --Darwin.
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   2. Essential quality; property; attribute.
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            It seemed to us a condition and property of divine
            powers and beings to be hidden and unseen to others.
                                                  --Bacon.
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   3. Temperament; disposition; character. [Obs.]
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            The condition of a saint and the complexion of a
            devil.                                --Shak.
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   4. That which must exist as the occasion or concomitant of
      something else; that which is requisite in order that
      something else should take effect; an essential
      qualification; stipulation; terms specified.
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            I had as lief take her dowry with this condition, to
            be whipped at the high cross every morning. --Shak.
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            Many are apt to believe remission of sins, but they
            believe it without the condition of repentance.
                                                  --Jer. Taylor.
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   5. (Law) A clause in a contract, or agreement, which has for
      its object to suspend, to defeat, or in some way to
      modify, the principal obligation; or, in case of a will,
      to suspend, revoke, or modify a devise or bequest. It is
      also the case of a future uncertain event, which may or
      may not happen, and on the occurrence or non-occurrence of
      which, the accomplishment, recission, or modification of
      an obligation or testamentary disposition is made to
      depend. --Blount. Tomlins. Bouvier. Wharton.
      [1913 Webster]

   Equation of condition. (Math.) See under Equation.

   On condition or Upon condition (that), used for if in
      introducing conditional sentences. "Upon condition thou
      wilt swear to pay him tribute . . . thou shalt be placed
      as viceroy under him." --Shak.

   Conditions of sale, the terms on which it is proposed to
      sell property by auction; also, the instrument containing
      or expressing these terms.

   Syn: State; situation; circumstances; station; case; mode;
        plight; predicament; stipulation; qualification;
        requisite; article; provision; arrangement. See State.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Condition \Con*di"tion\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Conditioned; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Conditioning.]
   1. To make terms; to stipulate.
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            Pay me back my credit,
            And I'll condition with ye.           --Beau. & Fl.
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   2. (Metaph.) To impose upon an object those relations or
      conditions without which knowledge and thought are alleged
      to be impossible.
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            To think of a thing is to condition.  --Sir W.
                                                  Hamilton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Condition \Con*di"tion\, v. t. [Cf. LL. conditionare. See
   Condition, n.]
   1. To invest with, or limit by, conditions; to burden or
      qualify by a condition; to impose or be imposed as the
      condition of.
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            Seas, that daily gain upon the shore,
            Have ebb and flow conditioning their march.
                                                  --Tennyson.
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   2. To contract; to stipulate; to agree.
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            It was conditioned between Saturn and Titan, that
            Saturn should put to death all his male children.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Raleigh.
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   3. (U. S. Colleges) To put under conditions; to require to
      pass a new examination or to make up a specified study, as
      a condition of remaining in one's class or in college; as,
      to condition a student who has failed in some branch of
      study.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To test or assay, as silk (to ascertain the proportion of
      moisture it contains). --McElrath.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

condition
    n 1: a state at a particular time; "a condition (or state) of
         disrepair"; "the current status of the arms negotiations"
         [syn: condition, status]
    2: an assumption on which rests the validity or effect of
       something else [syn: condition, precondition,
       stipulation]
    3: a mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing;
       "the human condition"
    4: information that should be kept in mind when making a
       decision; "another consideration is the time it would take"
       [syn: circumstance, condition, consideration]
    5: the state of (good) health (especially in the phrases `in
       condition' or `in shape' or `out of condition' or `out of
       shape') [syn: condition, shape]
    6: an illness, disease, or other medical problem; "a heart
       condition"; "a skin condition"
    7: (usually plural) a statement of what is required as part of
       an agreement; "the contract set out the conditions of the
       lease"; "the terms of the treaty were generous" [syn:
       condition, term]
    8: the procedure that is varied in order to estimate a
       variable's effect by comparison with a control condition
       [syn: condition, experimental condition]
    v 1: establish a conditioned response
    2: develop (children's) behavior by instruction and practice;
       especially to teach self-control; "Parents must discipline
       their children"; "Is this dog trained?" [syn: discipline,
       train, check, condition]
    3: specify as a condition or requirement in a contract or
       agreement; make an express demand or provision in an
       agreement; "The will stipulates that she can live in the
       house for the rest of her life"; "The contract stipulates the
       dates of the payments" [syn: stipulate, qualify,
       condition, specify]
    4: put into a better state; "he conditions old cars"
    5: apply conditioner to in order to make smooth and shiny; "I
       condition my hair after washing it"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

358 Moby Thesaurus words for "condition":
   abate, ability, abnormality, acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate,
   accustom, acute disease, adapt, adjust, adjust to, affairs,
   affection, affliction, ailment, allergic disease, allergy, alter,
   apprentice, assuage, atrophy, attach a condition, attune,
   bacterial disease, bearings, beat into, birth defect, blight,
   bound, boundary condition, box in, brainwash, break, break in,
   breed, bring up, capability, capacitate, capacity,
   cardiovascular disease, case, case harden, caste, catch, catechize,
   character, chronic disease, circulatory disease, circumscribe,
   circumstance, circumstances, class, clause, cobble, commission,
   competence, competency, complaint, complication, concerns,
   condition of things, conditions, confine, confirm,
   congenital defect, conjuncture, contain, contingency, copyright,
   cultivate, darn, dealings, defect, deficiency disease, deformity,
   degenerative disease, demand, develop, diminish, disability,
   discipline, disease, disorder, distemper, do up, doctor, doings,
   domesticate, domesticize, donnee, draw the line, drill, echelon,
   educate, enable, endemic, endemic disease, endocrine disease,
   environment, epidemic disease, equip, escalator clause,
   escape clause, escape hatch, establish, estate, event, eventuality,
   exception, exemption, exercise, familiarize, fetch up, fettle,
   fine print, fit, fit out, fit up, fitness, fittedness, fix, fix up,
   footing, form, foster, functional disease, fungus disease, furnish,
   gastrointestinal disease, genetic disease, gentle, get ready,
   given, goings-on, groom, grounds, habituate, handicap, harden,
   have a catch, have a joker, health, hedge, hedge about,
   hereditary disease, hierarchy, house-train, housebreak,
   iatrogenic disease, ill, illness, imbue, implant, impregnate,
   impress, improve, incident, inculcate, indisposition, indoctrinate,
   infectious disease, infirmity, infix, influence, infuse, inoculate,
   insist upon, instill, inure, jam, joker, juncture, kicker, kilter,
   leaven, life, limit, limitation, limiting condition, location, lot,
   make conditional, make contingent, make ready, malady, malaise,
   march of events, mastery, matters, maturity, mend, mitigate,
   modality, mode, moderate, modification, modify, modulate,
   morbidity, morbus, mould, muscular disease, must, narrow,
   naturalize, necessity, neurological disease, nurse, nurture,
   nutritional disease, obligation, occasion, occupational disease,
   occurrence, order, organic disease, orient, orientate, outfit,
   overhaul, palliate, pandemic disease, parameter, part, pass, patch,
   patch up, patent, pathological condition, pathology, persuade,
   pickle, place, plant disease, plight, position, posture,
   power structure, practice, precedence, predicament, prepare,
   preparedness, prerequisite, proceedings, proficiency, program,
   protozoan disease, provision, provisions, proviso,
   psychosomatic disease, put in commission, put in order,
   put in repair, put in shape, put in trim, put in tune,
   put to school, qualification, qualify, quality, quarters, raise,
   rank, rate, rating, readiness, ready, rear, recap, recondition,
   reduce, register, regulate by, rehearse, relation, relations,
   repair, requirement, requisite, reservation, respiratory disease,
   restrain, restrict, restriction, retread, ripeness, rockiness,
   role, run of things, saving clause, scant, season, seasoning,
   secondary disease, seediness, send to school, service,
   set conditions, set limits, set to rights, sew up, shape,
   sickishness, sickness, signs, sine qua non, situation, small print,
   soften, specialize, specification, sphere, spot, stage, standing,
   state, state of affairs, station, status, stint, stipulate,
   stipulation, straiten, string, strings, suit, suitability,
   suitableness, suitedness, symptomatology, symptomology, symptoms,
   syndrome, take in hand, tame, teach, temper, tempering, term,
   terms, the pip, the times, the world, tinker, tinker up, train,
   trim, tune, ultimatum, urogenital disease, virus disease,
   wasting disease, what happens, whereas, wont, worm disease



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONDITION, contracts, wills. In its most extended signification, a condition
is a clause in a contract or agreement which has for its object to suspend,
to rescind, or to modify the principal obligation; or in case of a will, to
suspend, revoke, or modify the devise or bequest. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 730. It
ii in fact by itself, in many cases, an agreement; and a sufficient
foundation as an agreement in writing, for a bill in equity, praying for a
specific performance. 2 Burr. 826. In pleading, according to the course of
the common law, the bond and its condition are to some intents and purposes,
regarded as distinct things. 1 Saund. Rep. by Wms. 9 b. Domat has given a
definition of a condition, quoted by Hargrave, in these words: "A condition
is any portion or agreement which regulates what the parties have a mind
should be done, if a case they foresee should come to pass." Co. Litt. 201
a.
     2. Conditions sometimes suspend the obligation; as, when it is to have
no effect until they are fulfilled; as, if I bind myself to pay you one
thousand dollars on condition that the ship Thomas Jefferson shall arrive in
the United States from Havre; the contract is suspended until the arrival of
the ship.
     3. The condition sometimes rescinds the contract; as, when I sell you
my horse, on condition that he shall be alive on the first day of January,
and he dies before that time.
     4. A condition may modify the contract; as, if I sell you two thousand
bushels of corn, upon condition that my crop shall produce that much, and it
produces only fifteen hundred bushels.
     5. In a less extended acceptation, but in a true sense, a condition is
a future and uncertain event, on the existence or non-existence of which is
made to depend, either the accomplishment, the modification, or the
rescission of an obligation or testamentary disposition.
     6. There is a marked difference between a condition and a limitation.
When a in is given generally, but the gift may defeated upon the happening
of an uncertain event, the latter is called a condition but when it is given
to be enjoyed until the event arrives, it is a limitation. See Limitation;
Estates. It is not easy to say when a condition will be considered a
covenant and when not, or when it will be holden to be both. Platt on Cov.
71.
     7. Events foreseen by conditions are of three kinds. Some depend on the
acts of the persons who deal together, as, if the agreement should provide
that a partner should not join another partnership. Others are independent
of the will of the parties, as, if I sell you one thousand bushels of corn,.
on condition that my crop shall not be destroyed by a fortuitous event, or
act of God. Some depend in part on the contracting parties and partly on the
act of God, as, if it be provided that such merchandise shall arrive by a
certain day.
     8. A condition may be created by inserting the very word condition, or
on condition, in the deed or agreement; there are, however, other words that
will do so as effectually, as proviso, if, &c. Bac. Ab. Conditions, A.
     9. Conditions are of various kinds; 1. as to their form, they are
express or implied. This division is of feudal origin. 2 Woodes. Lect. 138.
2. As to their object, they are lawful or unlawful; 3. as to the time when
they are to take effect, they are precedent or subsequent; 4. as to their
nature, they are possible or impossible 5. as to their operation, they are
positive or negative; 6. is to their divisibility, they are copulative or
disjunctive; 7. as to their agreement with the contract, they are consistent
or repugnant; 8. as to their effect, they are resolutory or suspensive.
These will be severally considered.
    10. An express condition is one created by express words; as for
instance, a condition in a lease that if the tenant shall not pay the rent
at the day, the lessor may reenter. Litt. 328. Vide Reentry.
    11. An implied condition is one created by law, and not by express
words; for example, at common law, the tenant for life holds upon the
implied condition not to commit waste. Co. Litt. 233, b.
    12. A lawful or legal condition is one made in consonance with the law.
This must be understood of the law as existing at the time of making the
condition, for no change of the law can change the force of the condition.
For example, a conveyance was made to the grantee, on condition that he
should not aliens until be reached the age of twenty-five years. Before he
acquired this age be aliened, and made a second conveyance after he obtained
it; the first deed was declared void, and the last valid. When the condition
was imposed, twenty-five was the age of majority in the state; it was
afterwards changed to twenty-one. Under these circumstances the condition
was held to be binding. 3 Miss., R. 40.
    13. An unlawful or illegal condition is one forbidden by law. Unlawful
conditions have for their object, 1st. to do something malum in se, or malum
prohibitum; 2d. to omit the performance of some duty required by law 3d. to
encourage such act or omission. 1 P. Wms. 189. When the law prohibits, in
express terms, the transaction in respect to which the condition is made,
and declares it void, such condition is then void; 3 Binn. R. 533; but when
it is prohibited, without being declared void, although unlawful, it is not
void. 12 S. @ R. 237. Conditions in restraint of marriage are odious, and
are therefore held to the utmost rigor and strictness. They are contrary to
sound policy, and by the Roman law were all void. 4 Burr. Rep. 2055; 10
Barr. 75, 350; 3 Whart. 575.
    14. A condition precedent is one which must be performed before the
estate will vest, or before the obligation is to be performed. 2 Dall. R.
317. Whether a condition shall be considered as precedent or subsequent,
depends not on the form or arrangement of the words, but on the manifest
intention of the parties, on the fair construction of the contract. 2 Fairf.
R. 318; 5 Wend. R. 496; 3 Pet, R. 374; 2 John. R. 148; 2 Cain es, R. 352; 12
Mod. 464; 6 Cowen, R. 627 9 Wheat. R. 350; 2 Virg. Cas. 138 14 Mass. R. 453;
1 J. J. Marsh. R. 591 6 J. J. Marsh. R. 161; 2 Bibb, R. 547 6 Litt. R. 151;
4 Rand. R. 352; 2 Burr. 900
    15. A subsequent condition is one which enlarges or defeats an estate or
right, already created. A conveyance in fee, reserving a life estate in a
part of the land, and made upon condition that the grantee shall pay certain
sums of money at divers times to several persons, passes the fee upon
condition subsequent. 6 Greenl. R. 106. See 1 Burr. 39, 43; 4 Burr. 1940.
Sometimes it becomes of great importance to ascertain whether the condition
is precedent or subsequent. When a precedent condition becomes impossible by
the act of God, no estate or right vests; but if the condition is
subsequent, the estate or right becomes absolute. Co. Litt. 206, 208; 1
Salk. 170.
    16. A possible condition is one which may be performed, and there is
nothing in the laws of nature to prevent its performance.
    17. An impossible condition is one which cannot be accomplished
according to the laws of nature; as, to go from the United States to Europe
in one day.; such a condition is void. 1 Swift's Dig. 93; 5 Toull. n. 242-
247. When a condition becomes impossible by the act of God, it either vests
the estate, or does not, as it is precedent or subsequent: when it is the
former, no estate vests when the latter, it becomes absolute. Co. Litt. 206,
a, 218, a; 3 Pet. R. 374; 1 Hill. Ab. 249. When the performance of the
condition becomes impossible by the act of the party who imposed it, the
estate is rendered absolute. 5 Rep. 22; 3 Bro. Parl. Cas. 359. Vide 1
Paine's R. 652; Bac. Ab. Conditions, M; Roll. Ab. 420; Co. Litt. 206; 1 Rop.
Leg. 505; Swinb. pt. 4, s. 6; Inst. 2, 4, 10; Dig. 28, 7, 1; Id. 44, 7, 31;
Code 6, 25, 1; 6 Toull. n. 486, 686 and the article Impossibility.
    18. A positive condition requires that the event contemplated shall
happen; as, If I marry. Poth. Ob. part 2, c. 3, art. 1, Sec. 1. 19. A
negative condition requires that the event contemplated shall not happen as
If I do not marry. Potb. Ob. n. 200.
    20. A copulative condition, is one of several distinct-matters, the
whole of which are made precedent to the vesting of an estate or right. In
this case the entire condition must be performed, or the estate or right can
never arise or take place. 2 Freem. 186. Such a condition differs from a
disjunctive condition, which gives to the party the right to perform the one
or the other; for, in this case, if one becomes impossible by the act of
God, the whole will, in general, be excused. This rule, however, is not
without exception. 1 B. & P. 242; Cro. Eliz. 780; 5 Co. 21; 1 Lord Raym.
279. Vide Conjunctive; Disjunctive.
    21. A disjunctive condition is one which gives the party to be affected
by it, the right to perform one or the other of two alternatives.
    22. A consistent condition is one which agrees with other parts of the
contract.
    23. A repugnant condition is one which is contrary to the contract; as,
if I grant to you a house and lot in fee, upon condition that you shall not
aliene, the condition is repugnant and void, as being inconsistent with the
estate granted. Bac. Ab. Conditions L; 9 Wheat. 325; 2 Ves. jr. 824.
    24. A resolutory condition in the civil law is one which has for its
object, when accomplished the revocation of the principal obligation. This
condition does not suspend either the existence or the execution of the
obligation, it merely obliges the creditor to return what he has received.
    25. A suspensive condition is one which suspends the fulfilment of the
obligation until it has been performed; as, if a man bind himself to pay one
-hundred dollars, upon condition that the ship Thomas Jefferson shall arrive
from Europe. The obligation, in this case, is suspended until the arrival of
the ship, when the condition having been performed, the obligation becomes
absolute, and it is no longer conditional. A suspensive condition is in
fact a condition precedent.
    26. Pothier further divides conditions into potestative, casual and
mixed.
    27. A potestative condition is that which is in the power of the person
in whose favor it is contracted; as, if I engage to give my neighbor a sum
of money, in case he outs down a tree which obstructs my. prospect. Poth.
Obl. Pt. 2, c. 3, art. 1, Sec. 1.
    28. A casual condition is one which depends altogether upon chance, and
not in the power of the creditor, as the following: if I have children; if I
have no children; if such a vessel arrives in the United States, &c. Poth.
Ob. n. 201.
  29. A mixed condition is one which depends on the will of the
  creditor and of a third person; as, if you marry my cousin. Poth. Ob. n.
201. Vide, generally, Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONDITION, persons. The situation in civil society which creates certain
relations between the individual, to whom it is applied, and one or more
others, from which mutual rights and obligations arise. Thus the situation
arising from marriage gives rise to the conditions of husband and wife that
of paternity to the conditions of father and child. Domat, tom. 2, liv. 1,
tit. 9, s. 1, n. 8.
     2. In contracts every one is presume to know the condition of the
person with whom he deals. A man making a contract with an infant cannot
recover against him for a breach of the contract, on the ground that he was
not aware of his condition.