Meanings
present singular third person presupposes · participle present presupposing · participle past presupposed · past presupposed
- To assume some truth without proof, usually for the purpose of reaching a conclusion based on that truth.
"Nay," replied her companion, "what have I done for you to presuppose such a want of gallantry, as to imagine that I would attempt to guess a lady's secret before she thought proper to communicate it?"
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Asking for an Invitation”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 261 more example
The Working Party's report to the Minister of Transport was published in 1949. It presupposed the demolition of Blackfriars railway bridge on planning grounds, to meet the requirements of the County of London and City of London Plans; [...]. (There were two railway bridges, one was demolished in 1985.)
1962 October, “The Victoria Line was only part of the plan”, in Modern Railways, page 258
Synonyms & antonyms
verbtake for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpraesuppōnō
- Middle Frenchpresupposer
- Englishpresuppose
From Middle French presupposer, from Latin praesuppōnō.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian приемам за дадено
- приемам за дадено (priemam za dadeno)to assume some truth without proof
Catalan pressuposar
- pressuposarto assume some truth without proof
Chinese Mandarin 預先假定 /预先假定
- 預先假定 /预先假定 (yùxiān jiǎdìng)to assume some truth without proof
Danish forudsætte
- forudsætteto assume some truth without proof
Dutch vooronderstellen
- vooronderstellento assume some truth without proof
Finnish olettaa
- olettaato assume some truth without proof
French présupposer
- présupposerto assume some truth without proof
German erfordern, voraussetzen
- erfordernto assume some truth without proof
- voraussetzento assume some truth without proof
Greek προϋποθέτω
- προϋποθέτω (proÿpothéto)to assume some truth without proof
Icelandic ganga út frá
- ganga út fráto assume some truth without proof
Italian presupporre
- presupporreto assume some truth without proof
Latin praesupponeo, praesumo
- praesupponeoto assume some truth without proof
- praesumoto assume some truth without proof
- praesuppōnōto assume some truth without proof
Polish antycypować
- antycypowaćto assume some truth without proof
Portuguese pressupor
- pressuporto assume some truth without proof
Russian предполага́ть
- предполага́ть (predpolagátʹ)to assume some truth without proof
Spanish presuponer
- presuponerto assume some truth without proof
Swedish förutsätta
- förutsättato assume some truth without proof
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with presuppose
Cite this entry
presuppose. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presuppose
“presuppose.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presuppose. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “presuppose,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presuppose.
Source: presuppose on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.