posit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to place, put, or set.
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to lay down or assume as a fact or principle; postulate.
noun
verb
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to assume or put forward as fact or the factual basis for an argument; postulate
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to put in position
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have positedperfect
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has positedperfect 3rd person singular
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am positingprogressive 1st person singular
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is positingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been positingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been positingperfect progressive
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positssingular 3rd person
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are positingprogressive
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positingparticiple
Past
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had positedperfect
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positedsimple
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positedparticiple
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had been positingperfect progressive
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was positingprogressive singular
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were positingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of posit
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin positus, past participle of pōnere “to place, put”
Explanation
To posit something is to assume or suggest that it is true. You can posit an idea or opinion. When you posit, you submit an idea or give an opinion. Scientists posit many ideas — called hypotheses — that they then try to prove or disprove through experimentation and research. In science, you hear about positing a lot, and the same is true in math and logic. When you say "If X, then Y" you're positing a proposition. Positing can also mean to put something somewhere firmly — this means to deposit, fix, or situate.
Vocabulary lists containing posit
"This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace
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"What Is Cultural Identity?"
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Big Science
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What most people don’t realize about the “Amadeus” version of Mozart’s story is that historians posit it is almost entirely fictional.
From Salon • May 16, 2026
"It's not for me to posit whether it's the beginning, the middle or the end."
From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026
One can find a cheaper home farther from the coast, so for argument’s sake let’s posit a $500,000 home with a $40,000 mortgage: $2,450 a month, or only $29,400.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025
The indictment mentions the nine specific games but says there were more than 100 total bets on Clase and does not posit an upper bound of how often this happened.
From Slate • Nov. 11, 2025
It’s not much of a stretch to posit that such a rash of misfortune dealt a serious blow to Waterman’s young psyche.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
