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

Our assumptions about how Iran will respond to what we do may be flawed.

From The Wall Street Journal

Given that many of the aggregate level assumptions have changed, it is somewhat pointless to try to transpose this onto individual bank loss estimates, analysts write.

From The Wall Street Journal

The team discovered that the universe's rapid early expansion can arise naturally from this consistent theory of quantum gravity, without the need for added assumptions.

From Science Daily

But those projections rest on the assumption that the conflict in the Middle East is relatively short-lived—and the impact to the global economy is still contained.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The assumption that the incoming ownership group can finance an additional $600 million for Moda Center — which is now a publicly-owned community asset is not possible,” lobbying materials from the Blazers stated.

From Salon

Related Words

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