PREMISE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does premise mean? 

• PREMISE (noun)
  The noun PREMISE has 1 sense:

1. a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn

  Familiarity information: PREMISE used as a noun is very rare.

• PREMISE (verb)
  The verb PREMISE has 3 senses:

1. set forth beforehand, often as an explanation

2. furnish with a preface or introduction

3. take something as preexisting and given

  Familiarity information: PREMISE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREMISE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

assumption; premise; premiss

Context example:

on the assumption that he has been injured we can infer that he will not play

Hypernyms ("premise" is a kind of...):

posit; postulate ((logic) a proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logical reasoning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "premise"):

major premise; major premiss (the premise of a syllogism that contains the major term (which is the predicate of the conclusion))

minor premise; minor premiss; subsumption (the premise of a syllogism that contains the minor term (which is the subject of the conclusion))

thesis (an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument)

condition; precondition; stipulation (an assumption on which rests the validity or effect of something else)

scenario (a postulated sequence of possible events)

Derivation:

premise (take something as preexisting and given)

• PREMISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they premise    ... he / she / it premises   
Past simple: premised   
Past participle: premised   
-ing form: premising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Set forth beforehand, often as an explanation

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He premised these remarks so that his readers might understand

Hypernyms (to "premise" is one way to...):

exposit; expound; set forth (state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Furnish with a preface or introduction

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

introduce; precede; preface; premise

Context example:

He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution

Hypernyms (to "premise" is one way to...):

say; state; tell (express in words)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "premise"):

preamble (make a preliminary introduction, usually to a formal document)

prologise; prologize; prologuize (write or speak a prologue)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Take something as preexisting and given

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

premise; premiss

Hypernyms (to "premise" is one way to...):

presuppose; suppose (take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

premise (a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn)

 Context examples 

That individual is in legal possession of the premises, under a distress for rent.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

While he is so occupied, I will tell you, reader, what they are: and first, I must premise that they are nothing wonderful.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then, friend John, am I to take it that you simply accept fact, and are satisfied to let from premise to conclusion be a blank?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of unnecessary delay.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“He is in unoccupied premises under suspicious circumstances,” said Gregson.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The essential premise for intraosseous administration is a functioning medullary cavity.

(Intramedullary Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

We have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary premises last week.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful examination of the premises, but without finding anything which threw any light upon the matter.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For, though your accusations were ill-founded, formed on mistaken premises, my behaviour to you at the time had merited the severest reproof.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

After I've ben workin' like hell all week I just got to booze up. If I didn't, I'd cut my throat or burn up the premises.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)