▪ I. † preˈsume, n. Obs.
[f. next.]
The act of presuming.
1. Anticipation, expectation.
| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. viii. (Pr. Sw.) xxxiii, Thir small birdis..lichtit doun, Bot of the nettis na presume thay had. |
2. Presumption, audacity; an instance of this.
| 1590 T. Watson Eglogue Death Sir F. Walsingham 360 Ah but my Muse..begins to tremble at my great presume. 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey Ep. Ded. 2 Praying your gracious Indulgence for my rude Presume. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xi. 495 When their cur-like presumes More urged the more forborne. |
▪ II. presume, v.
(prɪˈzjuːm)
Also 4 -sewme, -sum, Sc. pressume, 6 preswme, Sc. presome, 7 præsume.
[a. F. présumer (12–13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), or ad. L. præsūm-ĕre to take before, anticipate, in late L. to take for granted, assume, suppose, dare; f. præ, pre- A. 1 + sūmĕre to take.]
† 1. trans. To take possession of without right; to usurp, seize. Obs. rare.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 363 Þe pope mai not opinlier telle þat he is Anticrist..þan for to putte many mennis lyves for þis office þat he presumeþ. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 157 Kinadius..presumede alle the grownde [orig. terram omnem usurpavit]. |
2. To take upon oneself, undertake without adequate authority or permission; to venture upon. a. with simple object.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 76 Þei ben contrarie to alle þes newe ordris þat ben presumed aȝens Crist. 14.. Rule Syon Monast. liii. in Collect. Topogr. (1834) I. 31 If any haue desire to lyghe in her cowle, none schal presume thys, withe oute special licence of the abbes. 1490 Caxton How to Die 7 Late none presume nothynge of hym selfe. 1541 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 6 Evill disposed persons,..presumynge wilfullye and obstynatlye the violacion and breach of the saide Acte. 1669 Ld. Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 13, I had not præsumed so much but that I have heard my Lorde off Rutland say [etc.]. 1780 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 10 July, Hopes of excellence which I once presumed, and never have attained. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 459 One..whose powers, Presuming an attempt not less sublime, Pant [etc.]. |
b. with inf. To be so presumptuous as; to take the liberty; to venture, dare (to do something).
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 572 [The King] swour that he suld wengeance ta Off that brwys, that presumyt swa Aganys him to brawle or rys. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andreas) 822 Fore he be-cause of cowatice, pressumyt sik a man to sla. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 43 He [Uzziah] presumed to do upon him the prestis stole. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, We do not presume to come to this thy table (o mercifull lord) trusting in our owne righteousnes, but [etc.]. 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. To Rdr., Yet dare I presume to present thee with the true relation. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 1 Know then thyself, presume not God to scan. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, May I presume to ask what has interested you thus in her favour? 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. xxiii. 517 To his mind, it was..intolerable that historians should presume to sit in judgment on the actions of kings. |
† c. Also presume oneself, presume upon oneself, in same sense. Obs.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxiii. 78 (Harl. MS.) O! rybawde, whi hast þou presumyd thi self for to sey that þou were emperour? 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 108/2 Who so evere presume opon hym or thaime, to accept or occupie the seide Office of Sherreff, by vertue of such Grauntes. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. iv. xv. 275 Noon ought to presume himself to take eny thinge of the armes of an other. |
† d. refl. To set oneself up, be presumptuous.
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 21 Presumynge of thi silfe and veynlikynge of thi silfe of eny thynge that God hath sent the bodili or gostely. |
† 3. trans. (with inf. or clause.) To profess, pretend, make pretension. Also presume upon oneself (quot. 1470).
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. i. 76, I wille my self assaye.., not presumynge vpon my self that I am the best knyghte. 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. iii. xiii. (1568) 22 The prince whiche is vertuous, and presumethe to be a christian,..oughte to considre what losse or profyte will ensue thereof. Ibid. xxxvii. 62 If a man did narowly examin y⊇ vyces of many, which presume to bee very vertuous. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 51 Those who will not presume to bee able to doe anie thing, knowe how to doe most thinges, and those who take upon them to knowe all thinges, are those which commonlie knowe nothing at all. 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 279 Although he much presumed to be an astrologer or diviner, himselfe. |
† b. intr. presume of: to lay claim to presumptuously, pretend to. Obs. rare—1.
| 1599 Thynne Animadv. 31, I will not presume of muche knowledge in these tounges. |
4. trans. To assume or take for granted; to presuppose; to anticipate, count upon, expect (in earliest instances with the notion of over-confidence). spec. in Law: To take as proved until evidence to the contrary is forthcoming. a. with inf., obj. clause or obj. and compl.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 108 Þe cardinales atte Courte þat..power presumed in hem a Pope to make. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 259 A ful greet fool is any conseillour..That dar presume, or elles thenken it That his conseil sholde passe his lordes wit. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 227 Fra tyme a man be ressavit in service he is presumyt ay to be servand quhill he be releschit of his service. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 121 That, by the law ys presupposyd and vtturly presumyd to be truth. 1590 Swinburne Testaments vi. xiii. 223 Some are of opinion, that euery man is presumed to liue till he be an hundred yeares old. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 304 The proposition presumes, that one of the three must be indured, and no more but one of them. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scotl. iii. Wks. 1813 I. 236 Elizabeth, we may presume, did not wish that the proposal should be received in any other manner. 1805 E. H. East Reports VI. 82 At any time beyond the first seven years they might fairly presume him dead. 1879 Lubbock Addr. Pol. & Educ. i. 20 Cicero in one of his letters to Atticus..presumes that he would not care to have any from Britain. |
b. with simple object.
| 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 343 Hir Majestie nevir presumit alteratioun of the guid and quiet estait of the commoun weill. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 131 We cannot presume the existence of this animall, nor dare we affirme there is any Phænix in Nature. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Matt. i. 19 Kind and merciful men always presume the best. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 412 Until a writ of seisin is awarded, executed, and returned, (all which must appear upon record, and cannot be presumed). 1871 Sir W. M. James in Law Rep. 6 Chanc. App. 357 Death is presumed from the person not being heard of for seven years. |
5. intr. To act or proceed on the assumption of right or permission; to be presumptuous, take liberties. Often presume on, presume upon († presume of): to act presumptuously on the strength of, to rely upon as a pretext for presumption; also in neutral sense, to take advantage of.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 37 To be coupled to so hihe astate, I am unable, I am not apt thereto, So to presume. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 246 Presume not too much of the curtesies of those. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 16 The Catholique King knowing the Portugals to presume beyond their strength. 1683 D. A. Art Converse 6 If they presume too much upon their nobility. a 1708 Beveridge Thes. Theol. (1710) II. 250 To take no care, is to presume upon providence. 1797 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 106 Ignorance will presume, and its presumption will be chastised. 1877 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 3) I. App. 785 Lest other strangers should venture to presume on their kindred with Kings. 1885 [see press v.1 16]. |
6. intr. To press forward presumptuously; to advance or make one's way over-confidently into an unwarranted position or place; to aspire presumptuously; to presume to go. Now rare or Obs.
| c 1430 Freemasonry 717 Presume not to hye for nothynge, For thyn hye blod, ny thy comynge. 1565 Stapleton tr. Bede's Hist. Ch. Eng. 159, I straightly chardged him not to presume to that mynisterie which he could not do accordingly. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 13 Up led by thee, Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed, An earthly guest. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 31 If my Wishes have presum'd too high. |
7. presume on, presume upon, († presume of): to rely upon, count upon, take for granted; to form expectations of, look for. Now rare or Obs.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xci. ii, [Thou shalt] on his truth noe lesse presume, Then most in shield affy. 1597 J. King On Jonas (1618) 46 Some haue presumed, by coniecture, vpon his going to Tarshish, and fleeing from the face of the Lord. 1608 Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. ix–x. 125 They presumed of peace and safety, and so their destruction commeth suddenly without resistance. 1664 Pepys Diary 27 July, How uncertain our lives are, and how little to be presumed of. 1688 Pennsylv. Archives I. 107 Upon which accounts I shall presume on you. 1766 Entick London IV. 202 These could not be presumed upon for columns exceeding four feet in diameter. 1803 Forest of Hohenelbe I. 9, I was not to presume on any further favours. |