Definition of Presume

1. Verb. Take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof. "I assume his train was late"


2. Verb. Take upon oneself; act presumptuously, without permission. "How dare you call my lawyer?"
Exact synonyms: Dare, Make Bold
Generic synonyms: Act, Move
Derivative terms: Presumption

3. Verb. Constitute reasonable evidence for. "A restaurant bill presumes the consumption of food"
Generic synonyms: Bear Witness, Evidence, Prove, Show, Testify
Derivative terms: Presumptive, Presumptive

4. Verb. Take liberties or act with too much confidence.
Generic synonyms: Act, Behave, Do
Derivative terms: Presumption, Presumption

Definition of Presume

1. v. t. To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained.

2. v. i. To suppose or assume something to be, or to be true, on grounds deemed valid, though not amounting to proof; to believe by anticipation; to infer; as, we may presume too far.

Definition of Presume

1. Verb. (transitive now rare) To perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

2. Verb. (transitive) With infinitive object: to be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

3. Verb. (transitive) To assume to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose. (defdate from 14th c.) ¹

4. Verb. (intransitive) To be presumptuous; with (term on), (term upon), to take advantage (of), to take liberties (with). (defdate from 15th c.) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Presume

1. to take for granted [v -SUMED, -SUMING, -SUMES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Presume

prestrike
prestructure
prestructured
prestructures
prestructuring
prestrung
prests
prestudy
presuburban
presuicide
presulfided
presulfiding
presulfidings
presumable
presumably
presume (current term)
presumed
presumed(a)
presumedly
presumer
presumers
presumes
presuming
presumingly
presummer
presummit
presummits
presumption
presumptions
presumptious

Literary usage of Presume

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1919)
"... then if he fails satisfactorily to account for his possession to tho satisfaction of the jury, the jury has the right to presume he is the guilty party, ..."

2. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"his subjects ; and the monarch was nobly buried under a mountain " of the slain. Let none, therefore, presume to ascribe the victory " of the barbarians to ..."

3. United States Supreme Court Reportsby Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court by Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, United States Supreme Court (1882)
"The Lords of Appeal did not mean to set themselves up u legislators for the whole world, or presume in any manner to interfere with the commercial ..."

4. Publications by English Dialect Society (1850)
"... he wondered the Officers would presume to meet without his Orders, and he comanded them to disperse and retire to theire respective Quarters. ..."

5. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery During by Thomas Jodrell Phillips, Great Britain Court of Chancery, John Singleton Copley Lyndhurst, Charles Christopher Pepys Cottenham (1849)
"Croll the writer of these remarks does not presume to offer an opinion : but that the question was one which deserved consideration can hardly be doubted. ..."

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