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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

presume.

To be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)].

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/pɹɪˈzjuːm/UK/pɹɪˈz(j)um/US/pɹiˈz(j)um/US/pɹəˈz(j)um/US
  1. To be so presumptuous as (to do something) without proper authority or permission [with to (+ infinitive)].

    transitive
    I don't want to pretend to be an authority on this line of business, so I would never presume to tell you how to run your own company.
  2. To perform, do (something) without authority; to lay claim to without permission.

    archaic · transitive
    Don't make the decision yourself and presume too much.
  3. To assume or suggest to be true (without proof); to take for granted, to suppose.

    transitive
    Paw-prints in the snow allow us to presume a visit from next door's cat.
    Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
  4. To take as a premise; to assume for the sake of argument.

    transitive
  5. To impose (on) for one's advantage; to be presumptuous; to take advantage (of); to take liberties (with) [with on or upon].

    intransitive
    Thanks, but I can't accept the money; I would not want to presume on the generosity of a stranger'
Where this word comes from

From Middle English presumen, from Anglo-Norman presumer and its source, Latin praesūmere (“to take beforehand, anticipate”), from prae- + sūmere (“to take”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.