premise
Americannoun
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Logic. Also premiss. a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion.
- Synonyms:
- postulate, assumption
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premises,
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a tract of land including its buildings.
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a building together with its grounds or other appurtenances.
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the property forming the subject of a conveyance or bequest.
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Law.
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a basis, stated or assumed, on which reasoning proceeds.
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an earlier statement in a document.
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(in a bill in equity) the statement of facts upon which the complaint is based.
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verb (used with object)
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to set forth beforehand, as by way of introduction or explanation.
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to assume, either explicitly or implicitly, (a proposition) as a premise for a conclusion.
- Synonyms:
- hypothesize, postulate
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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premisesimple
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premisessimple
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have premisedperfect
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has premisedperfect
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am premisingprogressive
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are premisingprogressive
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is premisingprogressive
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have been premisingperfect progressive
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has been premisingperfect progressive
Past
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premisedsimple
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had premisedperfect
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was premisingprogressive
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were premisingprogressive
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had been premisingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing premise
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Argumentative Writing
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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.
See Examples For:
Wise said the rejected application was based on the premise that the Federal Reserve would grant it a master account for payment system access, an approach it now says is “non-viable.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
In adapting the premise for TV, series creator Nick Antosca dilutes the movies’ naked menace by pouring reasonable doubt into both Max’s profile and that of the Bowdens, the married lawyers behind his downfall.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
"My premise is that our acquiescence to these claims has led to the AI mess in which we find ourselves today."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Advocates for rate increases start from a shared premise: Policy may be looser than the Fed intended it to be even after cutting last year, and the economy no longer needs the support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
“Why should I? We talk between every meal, remember? That’s what we do. The premise of the movie about us is that we spontaneously combust if we don’t talk every six hours.”
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
There is an alert across the entire premises for Leonardo DiCaprio with a baseball cap pulled low.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
They have started inspections, leading to fines and closures of some premises that offer invasive procedures without proper permits or with outdated products.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Providers have told the BBC that they feel forced to open without registration or face bankruptcy because of the sunk costs in hiring premises and employing key staff.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Now Schwab is seeking to regain access to Forum premises and communication channels as well as farewell visits for him and his wife, Hilde Schwab, to the Forum’s overseas locations, according to the documents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
“As long as you’re on the premises, I’ll allow it.”
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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
Expectations of the proliferation of AI across industries and in consumer applications were premised on a massive build-out of the data centers needed to support the technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The policy was originally premised on the SEC’s statutory authority “to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate” to enforce securities laws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
But he’ll always have the memes, which, although premised on his past work, actually catapulted his name to a level of immortality that his filmography alone never could.
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
Everything that she, Baby Kochamma, had done, had been premised on one assumption.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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
Herodotus, in his chatty fashion, tells us various problematical stories of the Scythians, premising that he does not believe them all himself.
From Historic Tales, Vol. 8 (of 15) The Romance of Reality by Morris, Charles
It is to these trials that we shall now confine ourselves; only premising certain facts necessary to the perfect understanding of the extracts which we are about to make.
From The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, May 1844 Volume 23, Number 5 by Clark, Lewis Gaylord
Mr. Stevens then addressed the House, premising that in his state of health a few words must suffice.
From History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States by Barnes, William Horatio
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.
