positional

English

Etymology

From position +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

positional (not comparable)

1. Relating to the position of something.
2. (economics) Having or pertaining to a value that is a function of its social desirability, as opposed to its utility.
   • 1998, Samuel Bowles, Maurizio Franzini, Ugo Pagano, The Politics and Economics of Power, page 61:

     Of course, this ex post problem may have a negative feedback on the ex ante desirability of having market transactions for positional goods.

   • 2013, Anastasios S. Korkotsides, Against Utility-Based Economics: On a Life-Based Approach, page 235:

     Since economics is about scarcity, its study must be based on positional conflict, as indicated by the behaviour of the nouveau riche, or of poor people, who proudly demonstrate their latest smartphones or plasma TV sets.

   • 2014, Shenggen Fan, Ravi Kanbur, Shang-Jin Wei, The Oxford Companion to the Economics of China:

     Regarding saving and consumption, nonpositional and positional consumption are distinguished.

   • 2016, Stavros A. Drakopoulos, Comparisons in Economic Thought, page 69:

     Max Weber was also aware of positional considerations when he defined social status as "an effective claim to social esteem in terms of positive or negative privileges" (Weber, 1922: 305).

3. (chess) Based on long-term strategy, on gaining and exploiting small advantages, and on analyzing the larger position, rather than calculating more immediate tactics.

Synonyms

• locational

Derived terms

• benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
• positional asphyxia
• positional good
• positional isomer
• positional notation
• positional parameter

 

Translations

positional

• Bulgarian: позиционен (pozicionen)
• Italian: posizionale
• Polish: pozycyjny
• Romanian: pozițional (ro)
• Slovene: položájen

Noun

positional (plural positionals)

1. (linguistics) A member of a class of verb in some languages that indicates position or posture.

Anagrams

• isopointal, spoliation