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

Maniscalco is an incredible businessman, and a pioneer in the craft of shouting a premise and then pausing until the audience agrees it’s a punchline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

When economist Raghuram Rajan warned at Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2005 that the system could crack, Lawrence Summers dismissed his premise as “slightly Luddite.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 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

“There’s a premise underlying all of this that you can control AI by controlling the biggest LLMs,” Goertzel told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 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

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

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026

Asahi and Kirin confirmed to the BBC their premises had been searched by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, adding that they would fully cooperate with the government authority.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 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

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

Before, slave patrollers searched the premises of colored individuals at will, be they free or enslaved.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

“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

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

Run-A-Muck is premised on the idea that consumers who enjoy a story, world or other type of intellectual property will consume as much of it as possible in whatever form they can.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

The entire modern world was premised on the ability to buy now and pay later.

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

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 William Horatio Barnes

It was from Hills, a firm of solicitors in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, premising that I was a candidate for the post of doctor in the SS.

From Hurricane Island by H. B. Marriott (Henry Brereton Marriott) Watson

Now, if you graft your ideas on to another's, premising that his views were crude and primitive, the result will be somewhat mixed.

From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by William Chauncey Bartlett

Related Words

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