copula

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

COPULA, noun [Latin See Copulation and Couple.] In logic, the word which unties the subject and predicate of a proposition. Religion is indispensable to happiness. Here is is the copula joining religion, the subject, with indispensable to happiness, the predicate.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

More founding-era words: liberty · virtue · republic · justice · providence · commerce · militia · arms · prudence · establishment · religion · usurpation · tyranny · citizen · unalienable · sovereign