• Premise

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: prÄ•'mÄ­s, IPA: /ˈpɹɛ.mɪs/

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English, 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").

    Full definition of premise

    Noun

    premise

    (plural premises)
    1. A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
    2. (logic) Any of the first propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced.
      • Dr. H. MoreWhile the premises stand firm, it is impossible to shake the conclusion.
    3. (usually in the plural, legal) 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. (usually in the plural) A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts (in this sense, used most often in the plural form).
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 19, Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
    5. trespass on another’s premises

    Coordinate terms

    Derived terms

    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.
      • AddisonI premise these particulars that the reader may know that I enter upon it as a very ungrateful task.
    4. To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.
      • Shakespearethe premised flames of the last day
      • E. Darwinif venesection and a cathartic be premised

    Anagrams

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