presume
English
editAlternative forms
edit- præsume (archaic)
Etymology
editFrom Middle English presumen, from Anglo-Norman presumer and its source, Latin praesūmere (“to take beforehand, anticipate”), from prae- + sūmere (“to take”).
Pronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /pɹɪˈzjuːm/
Audio (UK): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /pɹiˈz(j)um/, /pɹəˈz(j)um/
Audio (US): (file) - (General Australian) IPA(key): /pɹɪˈzjʉːm/, /pɹɪˈʒʉːm/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /pɹɘˈzjʉːm/, /pɹɘˈʒʉːm/
- Rhymes: -uːm
Verb
editpresume (third-person singular simple present presumes, present participle presuming, simple past and past participle presumed)
- (transitive) With infinitive object: to be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission. [from 14th c.]
- I wouldn't presume to tell him how to do his job.
- 1982 August 21, Sylvia Barren, “Women and the IGA: A History of Struggle”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 3:
- There were no women at the birth of the International Gay Association in Coventry, England in 1978. The men there decided they would like lesbians to join; they would not presume to formulate aims for them but would adjust the organization if and when women joined it.
- (transitive, now rare) To perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission. [from 14th c.]
- Don't make the decision yourself and presume too much.
- (transitive) To assume or suggest to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose. [from 14th c.]
- Paw-prints in the snow allow us to presume a visit from next door's cat.
- Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
- (transitive) To take as a premise; to assume for the sake of argument.
- 2011 February 5, John Patterson, The Guardian:
- If we presume that human cloning may one day become a mundane, everyday reality, then maybe it's time to start thinking more positively about our soon-to-arrive genetically engineered pseudo-siblings.
- (intransitive) To be presumptuous; with on, upon, to take advantage (of), to take liberties (with). [from 15th c.]
- Thanks, but I can't accept the money; I would not want to presume on the generosity of a stranger.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 22”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
- Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain;
Thou gavest me thine, not to give back again.
- 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 15:
- Emma was not required, by any subsequent discovery, to retract her ill opinion of Mrs. Elton. Her observation had been pretty correct. Such as Mrs. Elton appeared to her on this second interview, such she appeared whenever they met again,—self-important, presuming, familiar, ignorant, and ill-bred.
- 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 75:
- Piliso then vented his anger on us, accusing us of lying to him. He said we had presumed on his hospitality and the good name of the regent.
Synonyms
edit- (to assume to be true): see Thesaurus:suppose
Related terms
editTranslations
editto assume to be true, suppose
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Translations to be checked
Anagrams
editItalian
editVerb
editpresume
Anagrams
editPortuguese
editVerb
editpresume
- inflection of presumir:
Spanish
editVerb
editpresume
- inflection of presumir:
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁em-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːm
- Rhymes:English/uːm/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with rare senses
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