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

Under that premise, the role should go to a candidate from Latin America this time.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

A chip built for a single model offers a weaker premise: a renter if its model is still wanted, nothing if it isn’t.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

“It Ends,” a microbudget marvel by 20-something writer-director Alexander Ullom, has a straightforward premise that expands in your imagination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr founded StubHub in 2000 on a simple premise: buying secondhand tickets shouldn’t feel like a back-alley shakedown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

He claimed to have witnessed the incident with his own eyes, and I remember how upset he became one morning when Mitchell Sanders challenged him on its basic premise.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

That, combined with big upward adjustments to rateable values of pub premises, left landlords with the prospect of much higher bills.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

To set up manufacturing space on a lot zoned for retail, Leong and his wife opened Ando Café on the premises.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Around him, the concrete blocks meant to shield the premises that proved useless.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Sunny's remains were recovered from the Hessle Road premises one year and 10 months after he was stillborn on 13 May 2022, the court heard.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

“Every year, the opossums and owls and such vacate the premises on Wishing Day. Strangest thing. It’s like they know what’s coming.”

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

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 2026 fuel subsidy calculation was premised on a global oil price of $70 per barrel, but prices have since topped $100.

From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 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

The entire economy was premised on its stability, and its stability in turn depended on house prices continuing to rise.

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

The cure is facilitated by premising a purge with calomel.

From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin

M. Elizabet began by mentioning it as a secret, premising that no one could tell her and warn her, except her who was her sister.

From Memoirs of Leonora Christina Daughter of Christian IV. of Denmark; Written During Her Imprisonment in the Blue Tower at Copenhagen 1663-1685 by Leonora Christina Ulfeldt

Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania, spoke in favor of the veto, premising that his words, "if they are not to convince any body in the Senate, may go to the country and be reflected on there."

From History of the Thirty-Ninth Congress of the United States by William Horatio Barnes

Related Words

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