Positing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Presenting a statement or idea as true or accepted without proof as a foundation for argument or discussion
2. Assuming or claiming something to be true for the purpose of logical reasoning or explanation
3. Putting forward an assumption or premise to serve as the starting point for thought or analysis

Etymology: "Posit" comes from Latin "positus," the past participle of "pōnō," meaning "to put" or "to place." The sense of setting something down as a foundation is built into that root: a posit is an idea laid down as a base on which further reasoning rests. "Positing" is simply the ongoing act of laying down such a base, so the word carries the physical image of placing an object into the thinking process. The noun "posit" also has a far more recent and technical life. In 2017, the American computer scientist and businessman John Gustafson, working with Isaac Yonemoto, used the term for a new way of storing numbers in computer hardware, presented in a paper on arithmetic that was meant to compete with floating-point systems. The engineering sense is a deliberate coinage, borrowing the old Latin idea of putting something in place to name a new kind of numerical format.

Synonyms: asserting, hypothesizing