1. generally accepted: generally believed to be or regarded as being something the putative father of the child
2. thought to exist: believed to exist now or to have existed at some time
[15th century. Directly or via French< late Latin putativus< putare "prune, think over"]
pu·ta·tive·ly adverb
Word History
The Latin word putare "to prune, think over," from which putative is derived, is also the source of English account, amputate, compute, count1 (of numbers), deputy, dispute, impute, recount, and reputation.
