Axiomatize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To present or formulate something as an unquestionable principle or axiom in a system of thought
2. To convert ideas or propositions into basic axioms that serve as foundational truths
3. To define or state something as a self-evident truth forming the basis of a logical framework

Etymology: The word is simply "axiomatic" plus the suffix "-ize", which turns an adjective into a verb meaning "to make into the thing described." "Axiomatic" itself comes from "axiom", a Greek word meaning something thought worthy or self-evident, and the suffix has a long road of its own: it traces back through Ancient Greek "-ízein", passed into Late Latin as "-izare", then into Middle French as "-iser", and finally into Middle English before settling into the form English uses today. To axiomatize something, then, is to strip an argument down to a small set of statements taken as true without proof, and build everything else from them. The verb follows the same pattern as older English verbs like "modernize" or "familiarize", where the suffix does the work of turning a description into an action.

Synonyms: postulate, assume, assert, presume, propose