# proposition

Pronunciation: say "prop-uh-ZISH-uhn" US /ˌpɹɑpəˈzɪʃən/, UK /ˌpɹɒpəˈzɪʃən/

## Noun

1. An idea, plan, or suggestion offered to others for their consideration.
   - Simple: An idea or plan that someone offers for others to think about.
   - _Investors found the startup's proposition attractive but risky._
   - _She countered with a proposition of her own: half now, half on delivery._
2. The terms of a business deal as offered to the other party.
   - Simple: The deal or terms that one side offers in a business agreement.
   - _The buyer rejected the proposition, calling the asking price too high._
   - _After weeks of talks, the supplier's proposition finally included volume discounts._
3. In some US states, a proposed law or constitutional amendment placed on the ballot for voters to approve or reject. *(US)*
   - Simple: A new law or rule change that voters in some US states decide on by voting yes or no.
   - _Proposition 13 reshaped California's property tax system in 1978._
   - _Several propositions on this year's ballot deal with housing and transit funding._
4. An assertion formulated so that it can be judged true or false.
   - Simple: A statement that must be either true or false.
   - _A scientific hypothesis is usually framed as a testable proposition._
   - _The debate turned on whether his claim was a genuine proposition or just an expression of feeling._
5. An invitation to have sex, directed at a person one is not already sexually involved with. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An offer of sex from someone you are not in a relationship with.
   - _He mistook her friendliness for interest, and his blunt proposition ended the evening._
   - _She reported the client's proposition to her manager the next morning._
8. The content of an assertion, regarded as true or false in itself and considered apart from the particular sentence that expresses it.
   - Simple: The idea a statement expresses, which can be true or false no matter what words are used.
   - _'Snow is white' in English and 'Schnee ist weiß' in German express one and the same proposition._
   - _Philosophers debate whether propositions exist independently of the minds that grasp them._
9. The act of putting an idea forward for consideration.
   - Simple: The act of offering an idea for others to think about.
   - _The proposition of a merger surprised shareholders at the annual meeting._
   - _Reform began with the proposition of a single bold idea: open the archives to the public._
10. An assertion that is provably true but not considered important enough to be called a theorem.
   - Simple: In math, a proven statement that is useful but not important enough to be called a theorem.
   - _Chapter two states a proposition about prime numbers and proves it in three lines._
   - _Several propositions in the paper serve only as stepping stones to the central theorem._
11. In grammar, a complete sentence.
   - Simple: In grammar, a whole sentence that expresses a complete thought.
   - _Older grammars analyze every proposition into a subject and a predicate._
   - _The clause cannot stand alone as a proposition without a finite verb._
12. A principle of religious doctrine set down as an article of belief; a creed.
   - Simple: A statement of religious belief that members of a faith accept as true.
   - _The council debated whether the new teaching contradicted any established proposition of doctrine._
   - _The reformers rejected proposition after proposition of the old theology._
13. The part of a poem in which the poet states its subject or theme. *(literary)*
   - Simple: The part of a poem where the writer tells what the poem will be about.
   - _The epic opens with a proposition announcing its theme of wrath and ruin._
   - _Milton's proposition spans the opening lines of Paradise Lost._

## Verb

6. To approach someone directly with an offer, proposal, or suggestion. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To offer someone a deal or suggest an idea to them.
   - _Recruiters propositioned her with a signing bonus before she had even graduated._
   - _Rival firms regularly proposition our best engineers with promises of higher pay._
7. To suggest sex to someone with whom one is not sexually involved. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To ask someone for sex when you are not in a relationship with them.
   - _He was fired after he propositioned a coworker at the holiday party._
   - _Witnesses said the official would proposition junior staffers and then deny everything._

## Origin

From Middle English proposicioun, borrowed from Old French proposicion, which came from Latin prōpositiō, a noun formed from the verb prōponō.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/proposition (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).