premise

American  

[prem-is] / ˈprɛm ɪs /

noun

• premises
  plural

1. Logic. Also premiss. a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion.

   Synonyms:

   postulate, assumption

2. premises,

   1. a tract of land including its buildings.

   2. a building together with its grounds or other appurtenances.

   3. the property forming the subject of a conveyance or bequest.

3. Law.

   1. a basis, stated or assumed, on which reasoning proceeds.

   2. an earlier statement in a document.

   3. (in a bill in equity) the statement of facts upon which the complaint is based.

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verb (used with object)

• premises,
  present (3rd person singular)
• premised,
  past participle,  past
• premising
  present participle

1. to set forth beforehand, as by way of introduction or explanation.

2. to assume, either explicitly or implicitly, (a proposition) as a premise for a conclusion.

   Synonyms:

   hypothesize, postulate

verb (used without object)

• premises,
  present (3rd person singular)
• premised,
  past participle,  past
• premising
  present participle

1. to state or assume a premise.

premise British  

noun

1. Also: premiss. logic a statement that is assumed to be true for the purpose of an argument from which a conclusion is drawn

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verb

1. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to state or assume (a proposition) as a premise in an argument, theory, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• repremise
  verb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• premises
  plural

Participles

• premising
  present
• premised
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• premise
  simple
• premises
  simple
• have premised
  perfect
• has premised
  perfect
• am premising
  progressive
• are premising
  progressive
• is premising
  progressive
• have been premising
  perfect progressive
• has been premising
  perfect progressive

Past

• premised
  simple
• had premised
  perfect
• was premising
  progressive
• were premising
  progressive
• had been premising
  perfect progressive

Future

• will premise
  simple
• will have premised
  perfect
• will be premising
  progressive
• will have been premising
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of premise

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English premiss, from Medieval Latin praemissa, noun use of feminine of Latin praemissus, past participle of praemittere “to send before,” equivalent to prae- “before, in front, ahead,” + mittere “to send”; see pre-

Explanation

A premise is what forms the basis of a theory or a plot. When you called 911 on the guy in your back yard, it was on the premise that he was a thief and not the meter-reader. In logic, the premise is the basic statement upon whose truth an argument is based. Criticize alternative theories by demonstrating their false premises. In a more general sense, it's a basic assertion. On the premise that people are generally good, you keep your doors unlocked. Premise is also used more loosely for the starting point for a plot. A movie's premise could be that two people trapped on a desert island will inevitably fall in love.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

premise premises premised premising

After its premiere at Sundance film festival earlier this year, The Guardian awarded it, external two stars, praising the "eye-catching premise" but cautioning that there was "too much wood but not enough fire".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

She even sought out McDonald, another yacht rock OG, for a collab that didn’t end up making the LP, which expanded beyond her original premise as her listening broadened along with her cooking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

That’s the premise behind the Slate series Blogging the Bible, in which David Plotz spent a year reading his religion’s founding text in its entirety and reflecting on what he learned.

From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026

That’s the premise of Chuck Klosterman’s “Rock*,” an alternate history of popular music from 1967 to well into this century, built on a single historical accident.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

But if Jenny and the others stuck with the silly Dog Squad premise, Cha-Cha would be reduced to making one guest appearance.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

Local law enforcement quickly showed up to tell the federal agents to leave the premises.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

To make them, firefighters go to homes and businesses in their district to interview residents, understand how they live and map the premises.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

The disease has been detected on 40 premises since the south-west Scotland restricted zone was established in early September.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Avila’s sister and co-plaintiff, Patricia Avila sued Brown in April 2021, alleging premises liability, negligent infliction of emotional distress and strict liability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

We interpreted this as an effort by the authorities to put us out of business, and occupied our premises illegally, with threats of eviction constantly hanging over our heads.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

“This was premised on a convergence in U.S. rates with those abroad as the Fed remained on hold and other central banks caught up,” said the Morgan Stanley team.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

“This transaction is premised on growth, not cost-cutting,” Paramount said in a statement, adding “we will be reducing debt while continuing to invest in the business and content for the long term.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Trademarks, unlike copyrights or patents, are intellectual property that are not premised on creating value for whoever registers them; they’re about protecting consumers.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

He also rejected the notion that he would do Big Tech’s bidding, and the idea that his support from tech leaders is entirely or even largely premised on his plans for their industry.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

In retrospect, their ignorance seems incredible—but, then, an entire financial system was premised on their not knowing, and paying them for this talent.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Feinstein, who is well known for her opposition to drones, is premising her legislation on safety concerns.

From Forbes ● Dec. 3, 2014

One of his most premising innovations was a new Secretariat for non-Christian religions; but Paul entrusted the project to a Curia professional, Paolo Cardinal Marella, and almost nothing has been heard of it since.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dear Edward: I promised to send you any news I might pick up about your mother and her premising husband.

From Chester Rand or The New Path to Fortune by Horatio Alger

Diderot began by premising that he would let his thoughts follow one another under his pen, in the order in which the subjects came up in his mind; and he kept his word.

From Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II. by John Morley

I shall therefore now proceed to this task, premising that in this analysis I shall occasionally interweave a remark of my own, to illustrate the author's views.—

From The Philosophy of History, Vol. 1 of 2 by Friedrich Schlegel

Related Words

• assertion
• assumption
• basis
• ground
• presumption
• proposition
• thesis