premise

Meaning

Noun

1. A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
2. Any of the first propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced.
3. (plural-normally) Matters previously stated or set forth; especially, that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
4. (plural-normally) A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts.
5. The fundamental concept that drives the plot of a film or other story.

Verb

1. To state or assume something as a proposition to an argument.
2. To make a premise.
3. To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows.
4. To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.

Synonyms

premiss

assumption

presupposition

prerequisite

precondition

hypothesis

supposition

preface

base

suppose

condition

proposition

preamble

presumption

conjecture

found

assume

ground

postulate

precede

introduce

presuppose

incorporate

jumping-off place

launch

making

matter

motion

offer

overture

plant

🌱

preposition

prologue

prolusion

proposal

reason

requirement

requisite

safe house

second

2nd

sentence

set up

shebang

site

start

start up

suggestion

jumping-off point

affair

repose on

Translations

prémisse

premisa

Prämisse

premessa

premissa

Voraussetzung

voorwaarde

öncül

premissa

premisse

pressuposto

افتراض مسبق

ipotesi

مقدمة منطقية

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: premise

In summary

From Middle English premise, premisse, from Old French premisse, from Medieval Latin premissa (“set before”) (premissa propositio (“the proposition set before”)), feminine past participle of Latin praemittere (“to send or put before”), from prae- (“before”) + mittere (“to send”).
Sense 4, a piece of real estate arose from the misinterpretation of the word by property owners while reading title deeds where the word was used with the legal sense.