presupposition

[ pree-suhp-uh-zish-uhn ]

noun

1. something that is assumed in advance or taken for granted:

   The conflict could have been avoided if the speakers had openly acknowledged the presuppositions that each of them brought to the discussion.

Other Words From

• pre·sup·po·si·tion·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of presupposition¹

First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin presupposition-, stem of presuppositio, equivalent to Latin praesupposit(us) (past participle of praesupponere ) + -iō -ion ( def ); presuppose ( def )

Example Sentences

I guess I tend to agree with the presupposition of your question that making people better off ought to be inspiring in itself.

From Nautilus

Over several days, a lab tech with no presuppositions about a universal conspiracy toward cubes painstakingly counted faces and vertices on hundreds of grains.

From Quanta Magazine

Visions of utopian living are always based on presuppositions about what kinds of urban spaces make people happier or healthier.

From MIT Technology Review

These are all things which cannot be proved by rational enquiry, but which must be presupposed in order for rational enquiry to take place.

From Nautilus

The key presupposition of the scientist is not “There is no God” but rather “The world speaks truthfully of its nature.”

From The Daily Beast

That matter lasts and cannot disappear is such a presupposition, which comes to us with the necessity of logical thinking.

From Project Gutenberg

By “presupposition” is meant a fundamental principle which the psychologist always has in mind.

From Project Gutenberg

If that scientific presupposition is absent from Magic and from Religion, it is implicitly present in mechanical behaviour.

From Project Gutenberg

For every human presupposition and declaration has as much authority one as another, if reason do not make the difference.

From Project Gutenberg

To those that contend upon presupposition we must, on the contrary, presuppose to them the same axiom upon which the dispute is.

From Project Gutenberg