presume

English

Alternative forms

• præsume (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English presumen, from Anglo-Norman presumer and its source, Latin praesūmere (“to take beforehand, anticipate”), from prae- + sūmere (“to take”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈzjuːm/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹiˈz(j)um/, /pɹəˈz(j)um/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈzjʉːm/, /pɹɪˈʒʉːm/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /pɹɘˈzjʉːm/, /pɹɘˈʒʉːm/
• Rhymes: -uːm

Verb

presume (third-person singular simple present presumes, present participle presuming, simple past and past participle presumed)

1. (transitive) With infinitive object: to be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission.

   I wouldn't presume to tell him how to do his job.

   • 1982 August 21, Sylvia Barren, “Women and the IGA: A History of Struggle”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 3:

     There were no women at the birth of the International Gay Association in Coventry, England in 1978. The men there decided they would like lesbians to join; they would not presume to formulate aims for them but would adjust the organization if and when women joined it.

2. (transitive, now rare) To perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission.

   Don't make the decision yourself and presume too much.

3. (transitive) To assume or suggest to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose.

   Paw-prints in the snow allow us to presume a visit from next door's cat.

   Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

4. (transitive) To take as a premise; to assume for the sake of argument.
   • 2011 February 5, John Patterson, The Guardian:

     If we presume that human cloning may one day become a mundane, everyday reality, then maybe it's time to start thinking more positively about our soon-to-arrive genetically engineered pseudo-siblings.

5. (intransitive) To be presumptuous; with on, upon, to take advantage (of), to take liberties (with).
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 22”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. , London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     Presume not on thy heart when mine is slain;
     Thou gavest me thine, not to give back again.

   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 15:

     Emma was not required, by any subsequent discovery, to retract her ill opinion of Mrs. Elton. Her observation had been pretty correct. Such as Mrs. Elton appeared to her on this second interview, such she appeared whenever they met again,—self-important, presuming, familiar, ignorant, and ill-bred.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 75:

     Piliso then vented his anger on us, accusing us of lying to him. He said we had presumed on his hospitality and the good name of the regent.

Synonyms

• (to assume to be true): see Thesaurus:suppose

Related terms

• presumption
• presumptive
• presumptuous

Translations

Anagrams

• Supreme, eusperm, supreme, suprême

Italian

Verb

presume

1. third-person singular present indicative of presumere

Anagrams

• supreme

Portuguese

Verb

presume

1. inflection of presumir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

presume

1. inflection of presumir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative