posited

[poz-i-tid]

adjective

1. claimed or assumed as a fact or principle, especially as a basis for argument or further investigation.

   The posited planet, supposed to explain the irregular orbit of Uranus, was later discovered—Neptune.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of posit.

Word History and Origins

Origin of posited¹

posit ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

He called it a strange game and posited the theory that the 2-1 win against Belarus last month, when Scotland were booed off, was a better three points than people imagined.

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James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling’s “broken windows” theory posited that crime is more than a willful act—it’s the product of a cultural atmosphere.

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In another joint paper on “the illusion of validity,” that legendary duo posited that an apparent similarity between two unrelated events, a parchment-paper test, makes us partial to seemingly endless, overconfident prophesies of disaster.

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In 1993, John B. Taylor formalized that concept with the “Taylor rule,” which posited that policy rates below the neutral rate would spur inflation, signaling the Fed to hike rates.

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Sifting through research papers eventually led them to a law of induction posited by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

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