presume
Formspresumes, presuming, presumed
- 1To take something to be true without proof, or to suppose it on the basis of what seems likely.
We presume good faith on the part of every new member.
The committee presumed his silence meant agreement and moved on.
Similarassume, suppose, surmise, believe
Note
Here the 'beforehand' of the Latin root becomes a conclusion taken ahead of its proof. Placed after a statement or question, I presume turns a guess into a courteous check: Dr. Livingstone, I presume? The verb takes a plain noun as readily as a that-clause, so paw-prints in the snow can let us presume a visit, with no need to spell out the full proposition.
- 2To take something as a starting premise, accepting it for the sake of argument rather than asserting it as established fact.
For the proof, we presume that the two lines never meet.
The economist presumed steady demand and worked out the consequences.
Similarassume, suppose, posit, postulate
Note
Where the 'suppose' sense commits the speaker to a belief, this one only grants a starting point. It typically sits in an if-clause that sets up an argument, as when John Patterson writes in The Guardian in 2011, 'If we presume that human cloning may one day become a mundane, everyday reality, then…'. The reasoning that follows is what matters, and the premise can be dropped later without anyone having been wrong.
- 3To be bold or forward enough to do something without having the right, authority, or permission to do it.
She would never presume to correct her teacher in front of the class.
The junior clerk presumed to overrule the manager's decision.
Note
This sense is most at home in the negative, as a courtesy: I would never presume to tell you how to run your company, or they would not presume to formulate aims for them. The speaker disclaims a right rather than claiming one. The Latin praesumere, 'to take beforehand', fits closely: to presume is to take a liberty before it has been granted. The construction is a to-infinitive; with on or upon the verb becomes the 'take advantage' sense.
- 4To take unfair advantage of someone, imposing on their kindness, patience, or good nature for one's own benefit.
He would never presume upon a stranger's hospitality like that.
They presumed on her patience until she finally said no.
Similarimpose
Note
The intransitive use always takes on or upon, and its objects are things freely given: generosity, hospitality, patience, a heart. Shakespeare's 'Presume not on thy heart' in Sonnet 22 (1609) and Nelson Mandela's account in Long Walk to Freedom (1994) of being told they had presumed on his hospitality use the same construction. The preposition is what separates this sense from the 'dare to' sense, which takes to plus a verb.
Less common meaning
- 5To do or take something without authority, or to lay claim to it without permission.
The pretender presumed the throne while the rightful heir was abroad.
None dared presume the authority of the high council.
Note
An old use, now rare, in which presume takes a plain object, the thing done or seized, rather than the to-infinitive of the 'dare to' sense. A sentence like the pretender presumed the throne reads as period language today; modern prose would say he laid claim to it. A trace survives in presume too much, where the object is a vague amount rather than a named right or office.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English presumen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman presumer, which came from Latin praesūmere ("to take beforehand, anticipate"), formed from prae- ("before") plus sūmere ("to take").