presuppose

American  

[pree-suh-pohz] / ˌpri səˈpoʊz /

verb (used with object)

presupposed, presupposing

1. to suppose or assume beforehand; take for granted in advance.

   Synonyms:

   presume

2. (of a thing, condition, or state of affairs) to require or imply as an antecedent condition.

   An effect presupposes a cause.

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presuppose British  

/ ˌpriːsəˈpəʊz, ˌpriːsʌpəˈzɪʃən /

verb

1. to take for granted; assume

2. to require or imply as a necessary prior condition

3. philosophy logic linguistics to require (a condition) to be satisfied as a precondition for a statement to be either true or false or for a speech act to be felicitous. Have you stopped beating your wife? presupposes that the person addressed has a wife and has beaten her

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Other Word Forms

• presupposition noun

Etymology

Origin of presuppose

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French presupposer; pre-, suppose

Example Sentences

"I think that's the main thing. That doesn't presuppose the outcome of the negotiation," Carney added.

From BBC • May 6, 2025

"Today's announcement does not presuppose or any way suggest the outcome of the investigations into the tragic incident," he said in a statement.

From Reuters • Sep. 29, 2023

It's worth considering what such a loophole-sized theory would presuppose: that hidden variables were encoded at the very beginning of time and space, deterministically setting everything into motion until spacetime's end.

From Scientific American • May 20, 2023

"There is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations."

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2023

The options market also tended to presuppose that the distant future would look more like the present than it usually did.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• infer
• posit