assume English · revision 4465

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1436|origins=la assumere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /əˈsjuːm/, US /əˈsuːm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|assumen]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|la|assūmere|t=to take up, take to oneself, receive]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from ad- “to, toward” and sūmere “to take”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) itself from sub “under” and emere “to take, buy”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*h₁em-|alt=*em-|t=to take, distribute]].^(Etymonline) Sūmere also gave [[consume]], [[presume]] and [[resume]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To receive up into heaven, the earliest use in English: 1436 in the OED;^(OED 1989) to take upon oneself: before 1420 in Barnhart, in Lydgate's Troy Book,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To put on a form, aspect or character is from 1447,^(OED 1989) and to take on fictitiously, to feign, from about 1600.^(Etymonline) To adopt or elect to a position is from 1502.^(OED 1989) The meaning “to suppose, take for granted without proof” is recorded by the 1590s,^(Etymonline) in the 16th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) The early past participle was assumpt, and Middle English also had assumpten “to receive up into heaven”, of the Virgin Mary.^(Etymonline) ''Assumption'', of the Virgin, is from about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – ''Assumption'', of the Virgin.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1436 – to receive up into heaven.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1447 – to put on a form or character.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1502 – to adopt to a position.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590s – to take for granted.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – to feign.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take for granted; to [[suppose]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To take upon oneself; to undertake the [[duty|alt=duties]] of an [[office]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To take on or adopt: ''assume a new identity''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pretend to have; to feign.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To take over, sometimes without right: ''assume control''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[assumable]]

+ * [[assumably]]

+ * [[assumer]]

+ * [[assumability]]

+ * [[preassume]]

+ * [[reassume]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[assuming]]

+ * [[assumption]]

+ * [[assumptive]]

+ * [[consume]]

+ * [[presume]]

+ * [[resume]]

+ * [[redeem]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In rhetorical use, assume expresses what the speaker postulates, often as an admitted hypothesis, while presume expresses what the speaker really believes.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}