assumption

American  

[uh-suhmp-shuhn] / əˈsʌmp ʃən /

noun

1. something taken for granted; a supposition.

   a correct assumption.

   Synonyms:

   theory, postulate, guess, conjecture, hypothesis, presupposition

2. the act of taking for granted or supposing.

   Synonyms:

   presupposition, presumption

3. the act of taking to or upon oneself.

   Synonyms:

   acceptance

4. the act of taking possession of something.

   the assumption of power.

   Synonyms:

   usurpation, appropriation, seizure

5. arrogance; presumption.

   Synonyms:

   gall, forwardness, effrontery

6. the taking over of another's debts or obligations.

7. Ecclesiastical.

   1. (often initial capital letter) the bodily taking up into heaven of the Virgin Mary.

   2. (initial capital letter) a feast commemorating this, celebrated on August 15.

8. Logic. the minor premise of a syllogism.

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assumption ¹ British  

/ əˈsʌmpʃən /

noun

1. the act of taking something for granted or something that is taken for granted

2. an assuming of power or possession of something

3. arrogance; presumption

4. logic a statement that is used as the premise of a particular argument but may not be otherwise accepted Compare axiom

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Assumption ² British  

/ əˈsʌmpʃən /

noun

1. the taking up of the Virgin Mary (body and soul) into heaven when her earthly life was ended

2. the feast commemorating this, celebrated by Roman Catholics on Aug 15

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Pop Culture

—Assumption persona: A persona is a detailed description of a fictional user (of a product, software program, etc.), based on real-world data. Software engineers and data companies create personas as user models to help build their products. In order to illustrate the utility of using data-driven personas in design, “assumption personas” (personas derived from existing assumptions about users) are used as negative examples showing how assumptions can lead to bad design choices. —Assumption of risk: the name for a defense used in tort law, where the defense argues that the plaintiff took action knowing the risks involved.

Other Word Forms

• assumptive adjective
• assumptively adverb
• misassumption noun
• nonassumption noun
• overassumption noun
• preassumption noun
• reassumption noun
• self-assumption noun
• superassumption noun

Etymology

Origin of assumption

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English assumpcioun, assompcioun, assumsion, from Latin assūmptiōn- (stem of assūmptiō ), equivalent to assūmpt(us) “taken up” (past participle of assūmere ) + -iōn- noun suffix; assume, -ion

Example Sentences

A 10-minute review of your withholding and planning assumptions could have the potential to save you thousands of dollars later through better tax-savings strategies.

From MarketWatch

It’s common for companies to use pricing models to value assets that lack market quotes, and this often requires making assumptions.

From The Wall Street Journal

That estimate relied on the assumption that sediment built up at roughly the same rate after the extinction as it did beforehand.

From Science Daily

There is widespread assumption - openly acknowledged by the chancellor in that Times interview today - that if there are huge spikes ministers will act.

From BBC

There’s an assumption that some of the money was allocated in a sloppy way as lenders rushed to put capital to work.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• acceptance
• belief
• expectation
• guess
• hunch
• hypothesis
• inference
• premise
• presumption
• supposition
• suspicion
• theory