premise
PREM-iss
/ˈprɛm.ɪs/
A proposition or statement taken as true and used as the foundation for an argument or conclusion.
Refers specifically to an input assumption in reasoning. An argument can have multiple premises, and if even one premise is false, the conclusion loses support.
The story behind the word. In medieval scholastic logic, terms were introduced at the beginning of a treatise. The Latin 'praemissa' literally meant 'things sent before'. These initial propositions sent before the debate became known as premises.
Word relationships
- assumption: An assumption is often unstated or taken for granted, whereas a premise is explicitly stated in an argument.
- postulate: A postulate is a basic principle claimed as self-evident, often used in mathematics.
- conclusion: A conclusion is the final statement derived from premises, not the starting point.
Commonly confused with
- premises: 'Premise' is a foundation of an argument; 'premises' (plural) refers to a property or building.
Word family
- premised (verb): Based an argument or theory on a foundational statement.
Collocations
- false premise
- underlying premise
- basic premise
- accept a premise
Idioms & expressions
- proceeding from the premise that
Example sentences
- "When we are led to infer that a proposition is true because it follows from another proposition known to be true, the latter is called a premise." Philosophy (Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (1912))
- "The entire business expansion plan was built on the flawed premise that consumer demand would remain constant." Corporate Strategy
Memory hook
Think of PRE-mise as sending statements BEFORE (pre-) you make your promise of a conclusion. Premise comes BEFORE the conclusion.
When not to use
Do not confuse with 'premises' (plural noun meaning a building or land). Avoid using it to mean a general guess or opinion without argumentative function.
Fun facts
- Legal land titles used to list property details early in deeds under the heading 'the premises' (the things mentioned before), which is how the word came to mean a physical building!
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