assume

See also assumé

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈsuːm/, /əˈsjuːm/, IPA: /əˈʃuːm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology

From Latin assūmō (“accept, take”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sūmō (“take up, assume”).

Verb

assume (third-person singular simple present assumes, present participle assuming, simple past and past participle assumed)

1. To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof.

   We assume that, as her parents were dentists, she knows quite a bit about dentistry.

2. To take on a position, duty or form.

   Mr. Jones will assume the position of a lifeguard until a proper replacement is found.

   • 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”:

     So while Ralph generally seems to inhabit a different, more glorious and joyful universe than everyone else here his yearning and heartbreak are eminently relateable. Ralph sometimes appears to be a magically demented sprite who has assumed the form of a boy, but he’s never been more poignantly, nakedly, movingly human than he is here.

3. To adopt an idea or cause.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:suppose

Related terms

• assumption
• assumptive

Translations

to suppose to be true

• Arabic: افترض (ar) (iftáraḍa), imperfect: يفترض (ar) (yaftariḍu)
• Bulgarian: приемам (bg) (priemám), допускам (bg) (dopuskám)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 假定 (cmn) (jiǎdìng)

• Czech: předpokládat (cs), domnívat se (cs)
• Danish: antage (da), formode (da)
• Dutch: aannemen (nl), veronderstellen (nl)
• Esperanto: supozi (eo)
• Finnish: olettaa (fi)
• French: supposer (fr), présupposer (fr), présumer (fr)
• German: annehmen (de)
• Italian: presupporre (it), ritenere (it)

• Japanese: 仮定する (ja) (かていする, katei-suru)
• Lojban: sruma (jbo)
• Persian: فرض کردن (fa) (farz kardan), حدس زدن (fa) (hads zadan)
• Polish: przyjąć (pl)
• Portuguese: supor (pt), pressupor (pt), presumir (pt)
• Romanian: presupune (ro), prepune (ro)
• Russian: предполагать (ru) (predpolagát’) impf., предположить (ru) (predpoložít’) pf., допускать (ru) (dopuskát’) impf., допустить (ru) (dopustít’) pf.
• Serbo-Croatian: pretpostaviti (sh)
• Spanish: suponer (es), dar por sentado (es)
• Swedish: anta (sv)

take on a position

• Bulgarian: поемам (bg) (poemam), заемам (bg) (zaemam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 擔任 (cmn), 担任 (cmn) (dānrèn), 承接 (cmn) (chéngjiē)

• Czech: zaujmout (cs)
• Dutch: innemen (nl), aannemen (nl)
• French: assumer (fr)

• German: annehmen (de), aufnehmen (de), einnehmen (de)
• Japanese: 負う (ja) (おう, ou), 引き受ける (ja) (ひきうける, hikiukeru)
• Portuguese: assumir (pt)
• Russian: занимать (ru) (zanimát’) impf., занять (ru) (zanját’) pf.
• Spanish: asumir (es)

adopt an idea

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 採納 (cmn), 采纳 (cmn) (cǎinà), 接受 (cmn) (jiēshòu)

• Czech: nabrat (cs)
• Dutch: aannemen (nl)
• Esperanto: akcepti (eo)

• French: adopter (fr), prendre (fr)
• German: annehmen (de)
• Russian: принимать (ru) (prinimát’) impf., принять (ru) (prinját’) pf.
• Spanish: asumir (es)

Anagrams

• amuses, Seamus

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.sym/

Verb

assume

1. first-person singular present indicative of assumer
2. third-person singular present indicative of assumer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of assumer
4. second-person singular imperative of assumer

Anagrams

• amuses, amusés, massue, muasse, suâmes, usâmes

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Italian

Verb

assume

1. third-person singular present indicative of assumere

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Latin

Verb

assūme

1. second-person singular present active imperative of assūmō

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Portuguese

Verb

assume

1. third-person singular present indicative of assumir