Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A proposition upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn.
  • noun One of the propositions in a deductive argument.
  • noun Either the major or the minor proposition of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.
  • noun Land, the buildings on it, or both the land and the buildings on it.
  • noun A building or particular portion of a building.
  • noun Law The part of a deed that states the details of the conveyance of the property.
  • intransitive verb To provide a basis for; base.
  • intransitive verb To state or assume as a proposition in an argument.
  • intransitive verb To state in advance as an introduction or explanation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A judgment causing another judgment; a proposition belief in which leads to the belief in another proposition called a conclusion; a proposition from which, with or without others, something is inferred or concluded.
  • noun A condition set forth; a supposition.
  • noun plural In law, what has been stated before or above (in a document); the aforesaid.
  • noun Hence plural The subject of a conveyance; lands and houses or tenements; a house or building and the outhouses and places belonging to it.
  • To set forth or make known beforehand, as introductory to the main subject; offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; lay down as an antecedent proposition.
  • To send before the time.
  • To state premises; preface an argument or other discourse with premises.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.
  • transitive verb To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings.
  • noun A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
  • noun (Logic) Either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.
  • noun (Law) Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
  • noun A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts
  • intransitive verb To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
  • noun logic Any of the first propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced.
  • noun usually plural, law Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
  • noun usually plural A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts (in this sense, used most often in the plural form).
  • verb To state or assume something as a proposition to an argument
  • verb To make a premise

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb set forth beforehand, often as an explanation
  • verb furnish with a preface or introduction
  • noun a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn
  • verb take something as preexisting and given

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English premisse, from Old French, from Medieval Latin praemissa (propositiō), (the proposition) put before, premise, from Latin, feminine past participle of praemittere, to set in front : prae-, pre- + mittere, to send.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French premisse, from Medieval Latin premissa ("set before") (premissa propositio ("the proposition set before")), feminine past participle of Latin premittere ("to send or put before"), from pre- ("before") + mittere ("to send")

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Examples

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  • Premise is not the singular of premises, it is a different word.

    Premise is an underlying argument or concept.

    Premises is the buildings and grounds of an estate.

    September 19, 2023