Adjacent Words

Presumption definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRESUMP'TION, n. [L. proesumption.]
1. Supposition of the truth or real existence of something without direct or positive proof of the fact, but grounded on circumstantial or probable evidence which entitles it to belief. Presumption in law is of three sorts, violent or strong, probable, and light.
Next to positive proof, circumstantial evidence or the doctrine of presumptions must take place; for when the fact cannot be demonstratively evinced, that which comes nearest to the proof of the fact is the proof of such circumstances as either necessarily or usually attend such facts. These are called presumptions. Violent presumption is many times equal to full proof.
2. Strong probability; as in the common phrase, the presumption is that an event has taken place, or will take place.
3. Blind or headstrong confidence; unreasonable adventurousness; a venturing to undertake something without reasonable prospect of success, or against the usual probabilities of safety; presumptuousness.
Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath.
I had the presumption to dedicate to you a very unfinished price.
4. Arrogance. He had the presumption to attempt to dictate to the council.
5. Unreasonable confidence in divine favor.
The awe of his majesty will keep us from presumption.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an assumption that is taken for granted [syn: given, presumption, precondition]
2: (law) an inference of the truth of a fact from other facts proved or admitted or judicially noticed
3: audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to; "he despised them for their presumptuousness" [syn: presumption, presumptuousness, effrontery, assumption]
4: a kind of discourtesy in the form of an act of presuming; "his presumption was intolerable"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English presumpcioun, from Anglo-French presumption, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin praesumption-, praesumptio presumptuous attitude, from Latin, assumption, from praesumere Date: 13th century 1. presumptuous attitude or conduct ; audacity 2. a. an attitude or belief dictated by probability ; assumption b. the ground, reason, or evidence lending probability to a belief 3. a legal inference as to the existence or truth of a fact not certainly known that is drawn from the known or proved existence of some other fact

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 arrogance; presumptuous behaviour. 2 a the act of presuming a thing to be true. b a thing that is or may be presumed to be true. 3 a ground for presuming (a strong presumption against their being guilty). 4 Law an inference from known facts. Etymology: ME f. OF presumpcion f. L praesumptio -onis (as PRESUME)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Presumption Pre*sump"tion (?; 215), n. [L. praesumptio: cf. F. pr['e]somption, OF. also presumpcion. See Presume.] 1. The act of presuming, or believing upon probable evidence; the act of assuming or taking for granted; belief upon incomplete proof. 2. Ground for presuming; evidence probable, but not conclusive; strong probability; reasonable supposition; as, the presumption is that an event has taken place. 3. That which is presumed or assumed; that which is supposed or believed to be real or true, on evidence that is probable but not conclusive. ``In contradiction to these very plausible presumptions.'' --De Quincey. 4. The act of venturing beyond due beyond due bounds; an overstepping of the bounds of reverence, respect, or courtesy; forward, overconfident, or arrogant opinion or conduct; presumptuousness; arrogance; effrontery. Thy son I killed for his presumption. --Shak. I had the presumption to dedicate to you a very unfinished piece. --Dryden. Conclusive presumption. See under Conclusive. Presumption of fact (Law), an argument of a fact from a fact; an inference as to the existence of one fact not certainly known, from the existence of some other fact known or proved, founded on a previous experience of their connection; supposition of the truth or real existence of something, without direct or positive proof of the fact, but grounded on circumstantial or probable evidence which entitles it to belief. --Burrill. --Best. --Wharton. Presumption of law (Law), a postulate applied in advance to all cases of a particular class; e. g., the presumption of innocence and of regularity of records. Such a presumption is rebuttable or irrebuttable.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(presumptions) 1. A presumption is something that is accepted as true but is not certain to be true. ...the presumption that a defendant is innocent until proved guilty... = assumption N-COUNT 2. If you describe someone's behaviour as presumption, you disapprove of it because they are doing something that they have no right to do. (FORMAL) They were angered by his presumption. [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Opinion, belief, supposition, conjecture, guess, anticipation, hypothesis, assumption, understanding, condition, concession. 2. Arrogance, forwardness, audacity, boldness, assurance, effrontery, brass, presumptuousness. 3. Probability, ground for believing.

Moby Thesaurus

adventurousness, allegory, allusion, apriorism, aptitude, arcane meaning, arrogance, aspiration, assumption, assurance, assured faith, attitude, audaciousness, audacity, axiom, basis, belief, bias, boldness, brashness, brass, brazenness, brinkmanship, bumptiousness, butting-in, chance, cheek, cheekiness, cheerful expectation, chutzpah, climate of opinion, coloration, common belief, community sentiment, conceit, concept, conception, conclusion, confidence, conjecture, connotation, consensus gentium, consideration, contumely, conviction, courage fou, courting disaster, crust, daredevilry, daredeviltry, daring, deduction, dependence, desire, doomed hope, effrontery, entailment, estimate, estimation, ethos, evidence, expectation, eye, face, fair expectation, fair prospect, faith, familiarity, favorable prospect, feasibility, feeling, fervent hope, fire-eating, flirting with death, foolhardiness, forejudgment, forwardness, gall, general belief, going for broke, good chance, good cheer, good hope, great expectations, grounds, guess, guesswork, hardihood, harebrainedness, high hopes, hint, hope, hopeful prognosis, hopefulness, hopes, hoping, hoping against hope, hubris, hypothesis, idea, immodesty, impertinence, implication, implied meaning, import, imposition, impression, impudence, inference, innuendo, inquisitiveness, insolence, intermeddling, intimation, intrusiveness, involvement, ironic suggestion, judgment, lawlessness, liability, liberties, liberty abused, license, licentiousness, lights, likelihood, likeliness, meaning, meddlesomeness, meddling, metaphorical sense, mind, mystique, nerve, notion, nuance, observation, obtrusiveness, occult meaning, odds, officiousness, opinion, outlook, overconfidence, overtone, overweening, overweeningness, parti pris, personal judgment, plausibility, playing with fire, point of view, popular belief, posit, position, postulate, postulation, postulatum, posture, prayerful hope, preapprehension, preconception, preconclusion, preconsideration, predecision, predetermination, predilection, predisposition, prejudgment, prejudication, prejudice, premature judgment, premise, premiss, prenotion, prepossession, presumptive evidence, presumptuousness, presupposal, presupposition, presurmise, prevailing belief, pride, probabilism, probability, procacity, promise, proposition, prospect, prospects, public belief, public opinion, pushiness, reaction, reason, reasonable ground, reasonable hope, reliance, sanguine expectation, security, sentiment, set of postulates, sight, stance, stand, subsense, subsidiary sense, subsumption, suggestion, supposal, supposing, supposition, surmise, suspicion, symbolism, temerity, tendency, theory, thesis, thinking, thought, tinge, touch, trust, undercurrent, undermeaning, undertone, undue liberty, uppishness, uppityness, verisimilitude, view, way of thinking, well-grounded hope, working hypothesis