Assumpcioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A belief or supposition accepted as true without proof ; the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life
2. Something taken for granted or accepted as fact without verification ; the Christian doctrine that Mary was lifted body and soul into heaven
3. An idea held as true without direct evidence ; the feast commemorating Mary being raised bodily into heaven

Etymology: This is a Middle English spelling of "assumption," and it shows the route the word took. The "-cioun" ending comes from Old French "-cion," which later became the "-tion" of modern English. The root is the Latin verb "assumere," meaning "to take up" or "to take to oneself," built from "ad-" (to) and "sumere" (to take). That same "sumere" lies behind "consume," "resume," and "presume," as well as "sumptuous," which comes from the past participle "sumptus." The noun had a precise technical sense in medieval logic. In a syllogism, the "assumptio" was the minor premise, the statement taken up as the basis for the conclusion. The everyday sense of a supposition accepted without proof seems to grow from that logical use, though the exact path of the shift is not fully documented.