Assumption

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈsʌm(p).ʃ(ə)n/

Definitions

1. A belief or statement accepted as true without proof or verification
2. The act of taking something for granted as true without evidence or confirmation
3. A premise or condition accepted beforehand as true or certain in reasoning or argument

Etymology: The Latin verb "assūmere" was built from "ad" ("to") and "sūmere" ("to take"), so its core idea is taking something up or taking something on. The "ad" shifted to "as" before the "s" and "s" changed to "ss", a standard Latin adjustment that hides the link to "ad" from modern eyes. Latin "assūmptiō" could mean a taking up, a adoption, or, in logic, the minor premise of a syllogism, the second step in a chain of reasoning where something is taken as given. The Medieval Latin sense "a taking up into heaven" gave the word its strongest religious association: the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is the belief that she was taken body and soul into heaven. Through Middle English "assumpcioun", the word arrived in English with that sense of being taken up, and the sense of accepting something as true without proof grew naturally from the logical idea of taking a premise as given.

Synonyms: premise, hypothesis, belief, presumption, theory

Antonyms: fact, certainty, truth