assume

See also: assumé

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, Canada) IPA^(key): /əˈsjuːm/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (UK, yod-coalescence) IPA^(key): /əˈʃuːm/
• (US, Canada, yod-dropping) IPA^(key): /əˈsuːm/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Nigeria) IPA^(key): /əˈzuːm/
• Rhymes: -uːm

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.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:assume.
2. To take on a position, duty or form

   Mr. Jones will assume the position of a lifeguard until a proper replacement is found.

   • 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book I”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

     Trembling they stand while Jove assumes the throne.

   • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 96:

     His unruly hair was slicked down with water, and as Jessamy introduced him to Miss Brindle his face assumed a cherubic innocence which would immediately have aroused the suspicions of anyone who knew him.

   • 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 book title or journal name):

     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.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:assume.
3. To adopt a feigned quality or manner; to claim without right; to arrogate

   He assumed an air of indifference.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

     Assume a virtue, if you have it not.

   • a. 1809,Beilby Porteus, sermon:

     ambition assuming the mask of religion.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:assume.
4. To receive, adopt (a person)
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     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 Thesaurus:suppose

Derived terms

• assumable
• assume room temperature
• assume the mantle
• assume the position
• coassume
• just assume
• misassume
• preassume
• reassume
• when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me

 

Related terms

• assuming
• assumption
• assumptive

 

Translations

to suppose to be true

Arabic: اِفْتَرَضَ (iftaraḍa) Armenian: ենթադրել (hy) (entʻadrel) Belarusian: прыпуска́ць impf (prypuskácʹ), прыпусці́ць pf (prypuscícʹ), дапуска́ць impf (dapuskácʹ), дапушча́ць impf (dapuščácʹ), дапусці́ць pf (dapuscícʹ), меркава́ць impf (mjerkavácʹ) Bengali: অনুমান (bn) (onuman) Bulgarian: предпола́гам (bg) impf (predpolágam), предполо́жа pf (predpolóža), допуска́м (bg) impf (dopuskám), допу́сна pf (dopúsna) Catalan: suposar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 假定 (zh) (jiǎdìng) Czech: předpokládat (cs) impf, domnívat se (cs) impf Danish: antage (da), formode (da) Dutch: aannemen (nl), veronderstellen (nl) Esperanto: supozi (eo) Faroese: halda (fo) Finnish: olettaa (fi) French: supposer (fr), présupposer (fr), présumer (fr) Galician: supor Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: annehmen (de), voraussetzen (de), vermuten (de), unterstellen (de) Gothic: 𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ahjan) Hebrew: לְהָנִיחַ Hungarian: feltételez (hu), feltesz (hu) Italian: presupporre (it), ritenere (it) Japanese: 仮定する (ja) (かていする, katei suru) Khmer: សន្មត (km) (sɑnmɔɔt) Korean: 가정하다 (ko) (gajeonghada) Latin: spero (la), adscisco, pono (la), sumo (la), ascisco, adsumo, praesumo, insumo Macedonian: претпоставува impf (pretpostavuva), претпостави pf (pretpostavi) Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: anta (no), formode (no) Persian: فرض کردن (fa) (farz kardan), حدس زدن (fa) (hads zadan) Polish: przypuszczać (pl) impf, przypuścić (pl) pf, dopuszczać (pl) impf, dopuścić (pl) pf Portuguese: supor (pt), pressupor (pt), presumir (pt) Romanian: presupune (ro), prepune (ro) Russian: предполага́ть (ru) impf (predpolagátʹ), предположи́ть (ru) pf (predpoložítʹ), допуска́ть (ru) impf (dopuskátʹ), допусти́ть (ru) pf (dopustítʹ) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: претпо̀стављати impf, претпо̀ставити pf Roman: pretpòstavljati (sh) impf, pretpòstaviti (sh) pf Slovak: predpokladať impf, domnievať sa impf Slovene: domnevati impf Spanish: suponer (es), dar por sentado Swedish: anta (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: припуска́ти (prypuskáty), припусти́ти pf (prypustýty), допуска́ти impf (dopuskáty), допусти́ти pf (dopustýty) Urdu: فرض کرنا (farẓ karnā) Vietnamese: cho rằng (vi) Zazaki: ferz kerden

take on a position

Bulgarian: пое́мам (bg) impf (poémam), зае́мам (bg) impf (zaémam) Catalan: assumir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 擔任／担任 (zh) (dānrèn), 承接 (zh) (chéngjiē) Czech: zaujmout (cs) Dutch: innemen (nl), aannemen (nl) Esperanto: alpreni (eo) Finnish: ottaa (fi), omaksua (fi) French: assumer (fr) Galician: asumir (gl) German: annehmen (de), aufnehmen (de), einnehmen (de), übernehmen (de) Italian: assumere (it) Japanese: 負う (ja) (おう, ou), 引き受ける (ja) (ひきうける, hikiukeru) Maori: whakatupu Portuguese: assumir (pt) Russian: занима́ть (ru) impf (zanimátʹ), заня́ть (ru) pf (zanjátʹ) Spanish: asumir (es) Ukrainian: займа́ти impf (zajmáty)

adopt an idea

Basque: uste izan Catalan: adoptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 採納／采纳 (zh) (cǎinà), 接受 (zh) (jiēshòu) Czech: nabrat Dutch: aannemen (nl) Esperanto: akcepti (eo), alpreni (eo) Finnish: omaksua (fi) French: adopter (fr), prendre (fr) German: annehmen (de) Latin: asciscō Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ) Spanish: asumir (es) Ukrainian: прийма́ти (pryjmáty)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “assume”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Seumas, amuses, Seamus

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.sym/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

assume

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

Anagrams

• amuses, amusés, massue, muasse, suâmes, usâmes

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. inflection of assumir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative