assumption

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for assumption in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Etymology

From Middle English assumpcioun, from Medieval Latin assumptio (“a taking up (into heaven)”) and Latin assumptio (“a taking up, adoption, the minor proposition of a syllogism”); see assume.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈsʌmp.ʃən/

Noun

assumption (countable and uncountable, plural assumptions)

  1. The act of assuming, or taking to or upon oneself; the act of taking up or adopting.
    His assumption of secretarial duties was timely.
  2. The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; a supposition; an unwarrantable claim.
    Their assumption of his guilt disqualified them from jury duty.
  3. The thing supposed; a postulate, or proposition assumed; a supposition.
    • 1976, “The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Volume 10”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:
      No doubt a finite evaluative argument must make some unargued evaluative assumptions, just as finite factual arguments must make some unargued factual assumptions.
  4. (logic) The minor or second proposition in a categorical syllogism.
  5. The taking of a person up into heaven.
  6. A festival in honor of the ascent of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
  7. (rhetoric) Assumptio.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:supposition

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

  • assumption in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • assumption in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
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