Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To take for granted as being true in the absence of proof to the contrary: We presumed she was innocent.
- v. To constitute reasonable evidence for assuming; appear to prove: A signed hotel bill presumes occupancy of a room.
- v. To venture without authority or permission; dare: He presumed to invite himself to dinner.
- v. To act overconfidently; take liberties.
- v. To take unwarranted advantage of something; go beyond the proper limits: Don't presume on their hospitality.
- v. To take for granted that something is true or factual; suppose: That's the new assistant, I presume.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To take upon one's self; undertake; venture; dare: generally with an infinitive as object.
- To believe or accept upon probable evidence; infer as probable; take for granted.
- Synonyms Surmise, Guess, etc. (see conjecture), think, consider.
- To be venturesome; especially, to venture beyond the limits of ordinary license or propriety; act or speak overboldly.
- To press forward presumptuously; be led by presumption; make one's way overconfidently into an unwarranted place or position.
- To take; to take to oneself: with of.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained.
- v. To take or suppose to be true, or entitled to belief, without examination or proof, or on the strength of probability; to take for granted; to infer; to suppose.
- v. To suppose or assume something to be, or to be true, on grounds deemed valid, though not amounting to proof; to believe by anticipation; to infer.
- v. To venture, go, or act, by an assumption of leave or authority not granted; to go beyond what is warranted by the circumstances of the case; to venture beyond license; to take liberties; -- often with
on orupon before the ground of confidence.
WordNet 3.0
- v. take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission
- v. take liberties or act with too much confidence
- v. constitute reasonable evidence for
- v. take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
Etymologies
- From Anglo-Norman presumer, Middle French presumer, and their source, Latin praesūmere ("to take beforehand, anticipate"), from prae- + sūmere ("to take"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English presumen, from Old French presumer, from Late Latin praesūmere, from Latin, to anticipate : prae-, pre- + sūmere, to take; see em- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Finally, damienoujia at this Comicvine forum noted another moment where Lori's smoking habit illuminated her character: Her first meeting with the Comedian and it seems he's hitting on her ... he lights what we presume is her first cigarette.”
“I also have an RFC (issued in conjunction with my Scotiabank account), which I presume is used by Hacienda to track taxes withheld from interest income. gpkisner”
“I want to see ADAM punching the ground, which, we presume, is the addict.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » EWill79’s Review Forum
“I presume from the patina that the one pictured is sitting on a battlefield somewhere.”
“According to the Commission decision, when one judge objected to Horowitz 'request, Judge Horowitz chastised her colleague as being "ridiculous" and that "everybody does it" The "it" I can only presume is to interfere in cases before the court.”
“Now, Screen Daily reports that Wright has chosen Saoirse Ronan to fill the lead role of the teen assassin, who I would presume is named Hanna.”
Saoirse Ronan to Re-Team with ATONEMENT Director Joe Wright For HANNA – Collider.com
“And relatives, lamenting the marginal life and aberrant sexual past of a black-sheep loved one they presume is deceased, sadly wonder what befell him and why.”
The Washington Post: D.C. police try to unravel mystery of man found dead in car trunk
“If "Cyanide & Happiness" offices and publishing houses begin to go up in flames, who among your cohorts would you most presume is the resident arsonist in the group?”
“All I can presume is that I entered a different world, one of what-if.”
“Which I can only presume translates to two hippies armed with a bunch of instruments they can't play that well and a bunker full of draw and pills.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘presume’.
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 318 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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7thGradeWords
horde, doggedly, retina, frail, jovial, insidious, injudicious, brazen, tentative, hortle, adaver, benign and 91 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Words for my English Learners
vast, superfluous, inevitable, though, pervasive, overwhelm, assume, presume, curious, eccentric, whimsical, quaint and 12 more...
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ash vocab
flippant, fillip, expiate, explicate, extirpate, facile, florid, fealty, allegiance, fetid, febrile, pert and 134 more...
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ecbrenner's list
flatline, luddism, apocalipstick, muttsucker, leviathan of fore..., flint, coryphaeus, donnybrook, bandwidth, bagpipe the mizen, cheesed off, asterism and 525 more...
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colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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"Think" Verbs
think, assume, comprehend, conceive, conclude, consider, deem, determine, envision, estimate, fancy, feel and 27 more...
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new words for a wench
new words i want to keep
warrant, predicate, disparage, deride, requite, edifying, cut it fine, pervasive, thwart, concur, appertain, comprise and 78 more...
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Words to learn
omit, in all likelihood, unlikely, utterly, every now and then, once in a while, deceptive, consequence, after all, ever since, reckon, show off and 52 more...
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minionmaster's Words
contemplating, slightly, shackles, wristguards, kneepads, serenity, reactant, lithium, argon, oxygen, dire, immense and 82 more...
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