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Webster 1913 Edition

Assume

As-sume′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Assumed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Assuming
.]
[L.
assumere
;
ad
+
sumere
to take;
sub
+
emere
to take, buy: cf. F.
assumer
. See
Redeem
.]
1.
To take to or upon one’s self; to take formally and demonstratively; sometimes, to appropriate or take unjustly.
Trembling they stand while Jove
assumes
the throne.
Pope.
The god
assumed
his native form again.
Pope.
2.
To take for granted, or without proof; to suppose as a fact; to suppose or take arbitrarily or tentatively.
The consequences of
assumed
principles.
Whewell.
3.
To pretend to possess; to take in appearance.
Ambition
assuming
the mask of religion.
Porteus.
Assume
a virtue, if you have it not.
Shakespeare
4.
To receive or adopt.
The sixth was a young knight of lesser renown and lower rank,
assumed
into that honorable company.
Sir W. Scott.
Syn. – To arrogate; usurp; appropriate.

As-sume′

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be arrogant or pretentious; to claim more than is due.
Bp. Burnet.
2.
(Law)
To undertake, as by a promise.
Burrill.

Webster 1828 Edition

Assume

ASSU'ME

,
Verb.
T.
[L. assumo, of ad and sumo, to take.]
1.
To take or take upon one. If differs from receive, in not implying an offer to give.
The God assumed his native form again.
2.
To take what is not just; to take with arrogant claims; to arrogate; to seize unjustly; as, to assume haughty airs; to assume unwarrantable powers.
3.
To take for granted, or without proof; to suppose as a fact; as, to assume a principle in reasoning.
4.
To appropriate, or take to one's self; as, to assume the debts of another.
5.
To take what is fictitious; to pretend to possess; to take in appearance; as, to assume the garb of humility.

Definition 2024

assume

assume

See also: assumé

English

Verb

assume ‎(third-person singular simple present assumes, present participle assuming, simple past and past participle assumed)

  1. To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof.
    We assume that, as her parents were dentists, she knows quite a bit about dentistry.‎
    • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
      Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.
  2. To take on a position, duty or form.
    Mr. Jones will assume the position of a lifeguard until a proper replacement is found.‎
    • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
      Trembling they stand while Jove assumes the throne.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
      Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability: […] it is a black spot which all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.
    • 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in (Please provide the title of the work):
      So while Ralph generally seems to inhabit a different, more glorious and joyful universe than everyone else here his yearning and heartbreak are eminently relateable. Ralph sometimes appears to be a magically demented sprite who has assumed the form of a boy, but he’s never been more poignantly, nakedly, movingly human than he is here.
  3. To adopt a feigned quality or manner.
  4. To receive or adopt.
    • Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
      The sixth was a young knight of lesser renown and lower rank, assumed into that honorable company.
  5. To adopt an idea or cause.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:suppose

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.sym/

Verb

assume

  1. first-person singular present indicative of assumer
  2. third-person singular present indicative of assumer
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of assumer
  4. second-person singular imperative of assumer

Anagrams

Italian

Verb

assume

  1. third-person singular present indicative of assumere

Latin

Verb

assūme

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of assūmō

Portuguese

Verb

assume

  1. third-person singular present indicative of assumir

Etymology

From Latin assūmō ‎(“accept, take”), from ad- ‎(“to, towards, at”) + sūmō ‎(“take up, assume”).

Pronunciation

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