presumption

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English presumpcioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman presumcioun and Old French presumpcion, presompcion,^[4][3][5] and directly borrowed from Latin praesūmptiō (“anticipation, presupposition”),^[4][6][2] which in Late Latin also meant confidence or audacity.^[2][4] The Latin noun is formed from praesūmptus, the past participle of praesūmō (“to take beforehand, anticipate”).^[4][6][5] The verb is from prae (“before”) and sūmō (“to take, obtain, buy”), itself from sub- (“up from under”) and emō (“to take”), from Proto-Indo-European *em- (“to take, distribute”).^[2] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from the end of the 12th century, already meaning arrogance, supposition, usurpation, and a supposition allowed in court.^[7][4] It is the noun to presume.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The taking upon oneself of more than one's ability, position or right warrants; overconfident conduct, arrogance: before 1250, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the mid-13th century, with this sense and that of seizure and occupation without right.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word meant chiefly arrogance and overconfidence, also as a branch of the sin of pride, but also confidence or faith.^[3] The sense of seizure without right, usurpation of an office, is recorded from before 1387, in Trevisa, until 1809.^[4] The sense of taking something for granted, a supposition, appears about 1390 in Chaucer's Melibeus,^[4] by about 1300 in Etymonline's dating;^[2] Chaucer used the word 11 times, for arrogance, confidence and assumption.^[8] The legal sense, a supposition that a court allows or requires to be made, is recorded in Scotland from 1429,^[4] and the phrase presumption of innocence from 1730.^[4] The sense of a ground or reason for presuming followed in 1592.^[4][2] Johnson (1755) gave "supposition previously formed" as the first sense.^[9] Etymonline notes that presumptuous keeps the older sense of arrogance.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1250 – overconfident conduct, arrogance, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[4]
• before 1387 – seizure without right, usurpation (obsolete by 1809).^[4]
• c. 1390 – a supposition, the taking of something for granted, in Chaucer.^[4] Etymonline dates this sense to about 1300.^[2]
• 1429 – in law, a supposition that a court allows or requires to be made.^[4]
• 1592 – a ground or reason for presuming.^[4] Etymonline has the 1580s.^[2]
• 1730 – presumption of innocence.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Behaviour that oversteps the limits of what is proper or polite; arrogant boldness, audacity, effrontery: She was annoyed at his presumption in reading her letters.^[10][11][4]
2. The act of taking something for granted; an assumption or belief based on reasonable evidence.^[11][4][10]
3. A ground or reason for presuming something.^[11][4]
4. (law) An inference that a fact is true, drawn from other facts that are proved or admitted, as in the presumption of innocence.^[11][4]
5. (obsolete, 1387–1809) The seizure of an office or position without right; usurpation.^[4][2]

Word family

• overpresumption
• presumption of innocence

Related words

• presumptive
• presumptuous
• presume
• assumption
• consumption
• resumption

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins