presuppose
Americanverb (used with object)
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to suppose or assume beforehand; take for granted in advance.
- Synonyms:
- presume
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(of a thing, condition, or state of affairs) to require or imply as an antecedent condition.
An effect presupposes a cause.
verb
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to take for granted; assume
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to require or imply as a necessary prior condition
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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presupposesimple
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presupposessimple
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have presupposedperfect
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has presupposedperfect
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am presupposingprogressive
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are presupposingprogressive
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is presupposingprogressive
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have been presupposingperfect progressive
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has been presupposingperfect progressive
Past
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presupposedsimple
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had presupposedperfect
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was presupposingprogressive
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were presupposingprogressive
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had been presupposingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of presuppose
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French presupposer; see pre-, suppose
Explanation
To presuppose is to take something as a given; presupposing is like assuming. When you suppose something is true, you assume it's true; to presuppose means something similar. The pre — which means "before" — is a reminder that what you're assuming is background or pretext for something else. Asking “Want soup?” presupposes someone is hungry. Asking a woman "When is the baby due?" presupposes that she’s pregnant. Presupposing can be dangerous: if your presuppositions are incorrect, you could jump to the wrong conclusion.
Vocabulary lists containing presuppose
My Antonia
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Rebecca
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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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.
Presuppose, prē-sup-pōz′, v.t. to suppose before actual knowledge: to assume or take for granted.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
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.
