proposition

American  

[prop-uh-zish-uhn] / ˌprɒp əˈzɪʃ ən /

noun

1. the act of offering or suggesting something to be considered, accepted, adopted, or done.

2. a plan or scheme proposed.

3. an offer of terms for a transaction, as in business.

4. a thing, matter, or person considered as something to be dealt with or encountered.

   Keeping diplomatic channels open is a serious proposition.

5. anything stated or affirmed for discussion or illustration.

6. Rhetoric. a statement of the subject of an argument or a discourse, or of the course of action or essential idea to be advocated.

7. Logic. a statement in which something is affirmed or denied, so that it can therefore be significantly characterized as either true or false.

8. Mathematics. a formal statement of either a truth to be demonstrated or an operation to be performed; a theorem or a problem.

9. a proposal of usually illicit sexual relations.

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verb (used with object)

1. to propose sexual relations to.

2. to propose a plan, deal, etc., to.

proposition British  

/ ˌprɒpəˈzɪʃən /

noun

1. a proposal or topic presented for consideration

2. philosophy

   1. the content of a sentence that affirms or denies something and is capable of being true or false

   2. the meaning of such a sentence: I am warm always expresses the same proposition whoever the speaker is Compare statement

3. maths a statement or theorem, usually containing its proof

4. informal a person or matter to be dealt with

   he's a difficult proposition

5. an invitation to engage in sexual intercourse

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verb

1. (tr) to propose a plan, deal, etc, to, esp to engage in sexual intercourse

Related Words

See proposal.

Other Word Forms

• propositional adjective
• propositionally adverb
• underproposition noun

Etymology

Origin of proposition

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English proposicio(u)n, from Latin prōpositiōn- (stem of prōpositiō ) “a setting forth.” See propositus, -ion

Example Sentences

“We prefer share winners with well-invested propositions,” they write in a research note.

From The Wall Street Journal

The budget airlines also face increasing competition from the larger carriers, which have added their own highly restricted, stripped-down “basic economy” fares that are the core proposition of low-cost and ultralow-cost carriers.

From MarketWatch

Wall Street is once again putting that proposition to the test, pushing Dow’s namesake index to a level unfathomable in its double-digit days near the turn of the 20th century.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The rate of change in our business is so high right now that the limitations it would put in our technical development efforts make that a pretty unattractive proposition for us.”

From Barron's

Mann writes that Glencore has an attractive copper portfolio, a strategically invaluable asset in this era of resource nationalism, and given Glencore’s relative discount rating it’s therefore an appealing investment proposition.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• hypothesis
• invitation
• motion
• premise
• proposal
• recommendation