Premise

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Premise \Prem"ise\, n.; pl. {Premises}. [Written also, less
     properly, {premiss}.] [F. pr['e]misse, fr. L. praemissus, p.
     p. of praemittere to send before; prae before + mittere to
     send. See {Mission}.]
     1. A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something
        previously stated or assumed as the basis of further


        argument; a condition; a supposition.
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              The premises observed,
              Thy will by my performance shall be served. --Shak.
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     2. (Logic) Either of the first two propositions of a
        syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.
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     Note: "All sinners deserve punishment: A B is a sinner."
           [1913 Webster] These propositions, which are the
           premises, being true or admitted, the conclusion
           follows, that A B deserves punishment.
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                 While the premises stand firm, it is impossible
                 to shake the conclusion.           --Dr. H. More.
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     3. pl. (Law) Matters previously stated or set forth; esp.,
        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.
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     4. pl. A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts;
        as, to lease premises; to trespass on another's premises.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Premise \Pre*mise"\, v. i.
     To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise.
     --Swift.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Premise \Pre*mise"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Premised}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Premising}.] [From L. praemissus, p. p., or E.
     premise, n. See {Premise}, n.]
     1. To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to
        be before something else; to employ previously. [Obs.]
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              The premised flames of the last day.  --Shak.
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              If venesection and a cathartic be premised. --E.
                                                    Darwin.
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     2. To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main
        subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or
        aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down
        premises or first propositions, on which rest the
        subsequent reasonings.
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              I premise these particulars that the reader may know
              that I enter upon it as a very ungrateful task.
                                                    --Addison.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  premise
       n : a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a
           conclusion can be drawn; "on the assumption that he has
           been injured we can infer that he will not to play" [syn:
            {premiss}, {assumption}]
       v 1: set forth beforehand, often as an explanation; "He premised
            these remarks so that his readers might understand"
       2: furnish with a preface or introduction; "She always precedes
          her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a
          critical remark about the institution" [syn: {precede}, {preface},
           {introduce}]
       3: take something as preexisting and given [syn: {premiss}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  119 Moby Thesaurus words for "premise":
     a priori principle, affirmation, ancestor, antecedent, apriorism,
     argue, assert, assertion, assume, assumed position, assumption,
     avant-propos, axiom, basis, basis for belief, body of evidence,
     breakthrough, categorical proposition, chain of evidence, clue,
     conjecture, data, datum, documentation, evidence, exhibit,
     exordium, fact, facts, first principles, forerunner, foreword,
     foundation, front matter, frontispiece, ground, grounds,
     grounds for belief, guesswork, hypothecate, hypothesis,
     hypothesis ad hoc, hypothesize, indication, inference, innovation,
     introduce, introduction, item of evidence, leap, lemma,
     major premise, manifestation, mark, material grounds,
     minor premise, muniments, mute witness, overture, philosopheme,
     philosophical proposition, piece of evidence, posit, position,
     postulate, postulation, postulatum, preamble, precedent, precursor,
     predicate, preface, prefix, prefixture, preliminary, prelude,
     premises, premiss, presume, presumption, presupposal, presuppose,
     presupposition, proem, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis,
     prologize, prologue, proof, proposal, propose, proposition,
     propositional function, protasis, put forth, reason to believe,
     relevant fact, set forth, set of postulates, sign, statement,
     sumption, supposal, suppose, supposing, supposition, surmise,
     symptom, theorem, theorize, thesis, token, truth table,
     truth-function, truth-value, verse, voluntary,
     working hypothesis