presuppose

American  

[pree-suh-pohz] / ˌpri səˈpoʊz /

verb (used with object)

• presupposes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• presupposed,
  past participle,  past
• presupposing
  present participle

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 /

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

Derived Forms

• presupposition
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• presupposing
  present
• presupposed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• presuppose
  simple
• presupposes
  simple
• have presupposed
  perfect
• has presupposed
  perfect
• am presupposing
  progressive
• are presupposing
  progressive
• is presupposing
  progressive
• have been presupposing
  perfect progressive
• has been presupposing
  perfect progressive

Past

• presupposed
  simple
• had presupposed
  perfect
• was presupposing
  progressive
• were presupposing
  progressive
• had been presupposing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will presuppose
  simple
• will have presupposed
  perfect
• will be presupposing
  progressive
• will have been presupposing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of presuppose

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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

presuppose presupposes presupposed presupposing

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

From BBC ● May 6, 2025

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

Russian Arctic Ambassador Nikolay Korchunov, chair of the Senior Arctic Officials on the council, told Reuters the transition would "presuppose active and responsible participation of all Arctic Council member states in this preparatory process."

From Reuters ● Mar. 28, 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

Again, all special studies presuppose certain fundamental types of things.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

The rosary presupposes our boredom, propensity to distraction, and impatience with dull routine and attempts to transmute these failings into the virtues of faith, hope and charity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

But it also presupposes a grim reality: that some civilian deaths might be proportional.

From New York Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

But for many of us, a final resting place presupposes that one has had a final living place.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023

Explaining consciousness with a concept that presupposes consciousness strikes me as circular reasoning—cheating.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 26, 2023

Because for a private citizen to become a prince presupposes virtue or Fortune, it appears that either the one or the other of these two things should partially mitigate many of the problems.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

But such arguments presupposed fairy-tale versions of families, in which a child’s sexual identity or religious affiliation never leads to exile.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2023

They also presupposed that the symptoms reported established the existence of a genuine, novel condition akin to traumatic brain damage, only without an obvious injury.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 6, 2023

Nothing against you, but you presupposed that everyone in Paris is rich, which isn’t true.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2021

He emphasized that that in no way presupposed that Berman knew her killer.

From Fox News ● May 21, 2021

It presupposed that somewhere or other, outside oneself, there was a “real” world where “real” things happened.

From "1984" by George Orwell

But bundle theory allows us to make sense of a thing without presupposing a mythical form, or “something I know not what!”

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

But Bender says she and her colleagues are not presupposing that Overmann’s MET-based ideas are correct.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 23, 2021

The experts said the term “victim” can appear prejudicial in a court of law, heavily influencing a jury by presupposing which people have been wronged.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2021

More problematic, considering current events, the story line inadvertently serves as a cautionary tale for filmmakers, underscoring the inherent challenges of presupposing a ripped-from-the-headlines timeliness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2017

It never can arise without presupposing the commission of one guilty act—one act which no good or truly moral man would commit at all.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 1 July 1848 by Robert Taylor Conrad

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Related Words

• infer
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