assumption
Americannoun
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something taken for granted; a supposition.
a correct assumption.
- Synonyms:
- theory, postulate, guess, conjecture, hypothesis, presupposition
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the act of taking for granted or supposing.
- Synonyms:
- presupposition, presumption
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the act of taking to or upon oneself.
- Synonyms:
- acceptance
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the act of taking possession of something.
the assumption of power.
- Synonyms:
- usurpation, appropriation, seizure
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- Synonyms:
- gall, forwardness, effrontery
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the taking over of another's debts or obligations.
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Ecclesiastical.
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(often initial capital letter) the bodily taking up into heaven of the Virgin Mary.
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(initial capital letter) a feast commemorating this, celebrated on August 15.
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Logic. the minor premise of a syllogism.
noun
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the act of taking something for granted or something that is taken for granted
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an assuming of power or possession of something
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arrogance; presumption
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logic a statement that is used as the premise of a particular argument but may not be otherwise accepted Compare axiom
noun
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the taking up of the Virgin Mary (body and soul) into heaven when her earthly life was ended
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the feast commemorating this, celebrated by Roman Catholics on Aug 15
Pop Culture
—Assumption persona: A persona is a detailed description of a fictional user (of a product, software program, etc.), based on real-world data. Software engineers and data companies create personas as user models to help build their products. In order to illustrate the utility of using data-driven personas in design, “assumption personas” (personas derived from existing assumptions about users) are used as negative examples showing how assumptions can lead to bad design choices. —Assumption of risk: the name for a defense used in tort law, where the defense argues that the plaintiff took action knowing the risks involved.
Other Word Forms
- assumptive adjective
- assumptively adverb
- misassumption noun
- nonassumption noun
- overassumption noun
- preassumption noun
- reassumption noun
- self-assumption noun
- superassumption noun
Etymology
Origin of assumption
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English assumpcioun, assompcioun, assumsion, from Latin assūmptiōn- (stem of assūmptiō ), equivalent to assūmpt(us) “taken up” (past participle of assūmere ) + -iōn- noun suffix; assume, -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We are still operating on the assumption that we will receive the delivery, but we don't know when," Pfister said, adding that the government was mulling various options.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
The assumption is that he thinks he can get more money from big tech’s streaming services than he can from his long-time TV partners.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
UBS has an end-of-year gold target of $5,600 per ounce, based primarily on the assumption that investors will continue to want to diversify their portfolios with purchases of the precious metal.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026
“The assumption that the incoming ownership group can finance an additional $600 million for Moda Center — which is now a publicly-owned community asset is not possible,” lobbying materials from the Blazers stated.
From Salon • Mar. 30, 2026
But we made an assumption here—that there is a 50-50 chance that God exists.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
