assume, v.
(əˈsjuːm)
[ad. L. as-, ad-sūmĕre to take to oneself, adopt, usurp, f. ad to + sūmĕre to take. In 15–16th c. the pa. pple. was assumpt.]
I. To take unto (oneself), receive, accept, adopt.
1. trans. To take to be with one, to receive into association, to adopt into partnership, employment, service, use; to adopt, take.
| 1581 Savile Tacitus' Agric. (1622) 186 Into whose train being assumed hee was..well liked. 1607 Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr. i. i. 44 Paule forbiddeth to assume the weake to the controuersies of disputation. 1641 Thorndike Prim. Govt. Ch. 113 [He] assumed S. Augustine to assist him. 1674 Playford Skill of Mus. iii. 29 The lowest note of that fifth assume for your Key. 1861 Trench Sev. Ch. Asia 94 Revealed religion assumes them into her service. 1868 Perthsh. Jrnl. 18 June, Mr. Mark..has been assumed as a Partner in the Edinburgh Branch of the Business. |
b. esp. To receive up into heaven. (The earliest use in Eng.; cf. assumption 1, 1 b). arch. or Obs.
| 1436 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 204 He us assume, and brynge us to the blisse. a 1520 Myrr. Our Ladye 309 Thow arte assumpte aboue all thynges, wyth Iesu thy sonne, Maria. 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 189 As when Enoch and Elias were assumed up into heaven. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Assumption, The Holy Virgin was assumed or taken into heaven. |
† c. Of things. rare.
| 1508 Fisher Wks. i. 134 Whan stones be assumpte for the reedyfyenge of cytees or toures. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 85 All these [bodies] were assumed up..into the Water, and sustained in it. |
† 2. To adopt, choose, elect, to some position. (So in L.) Often with the idea of elevation; cf. assumption 2. Obs.
| 1502 Arnold Chron. 280 He was assumpte to the state of cardynal. 1621 Quarles Esther (1717) 96 Her Unkles love assum'd her for his own. 1670 G. H. tr. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 177 He was assum'd to the Papacy. |
† 3. To take into the body (food, nourishment, etc.). So in L.; cf. assumption 4. Obs.
| 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 184 Afterwards vpon meats taken againe, let there be assumed a draught of..Beere. 1657 Phys. Dict., Assumed, taken inwardly. |
II. To take upon oneself, put on, undertake.
4. trans. To take upon oneself, put on (a garb, aspect, form, or character).
| 1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys of Seyntys 46 That be hem oure nature assumpt shul be To ye secunde persone of ye trinite. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, Prol. 6 Then should the Warlike Harry..Assume the Port of Mars. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 229 Thus the whole perfect and complete nature of man was assumed by the word. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 587 The slipp'ry God will..various Forms assume. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 582 Habits are soon assumed. 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. i. i. i. 4 Mercury with a larger quantity of oxygen assumes a red colour. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. i. 5 The Netherland revolt had therefore assumed world-wide proportions. |
b. To invest oneself with (an attribute).
| 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 318 Reign for ever, and assume Thy merits. 1797 Godwin Enquirer i. vi. 38 Intellect assumed new courage. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iv. §11. 245 These Doctrines assume at once a reasonableness and an importance. |
5. To take to oneself formally (the insignia of office or symbol of a vocation); to undertake (an office or duty).
| 1581 Savile Tacitus (1596) 214 Assuming the markes and ornamentes of the Roman gouernors. 1628 Coke On Litt. 7 b, Which title of Dominus Hiberniæ, he assumed. 1640 in Rushworth Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 44 Mr. Speaker assumed the Chair. 1786 Burke Art. W. Hastings Wks. 1842 II. 156 Justified in immediately assuming the government. 1863 Mrs. Oliphant Sal. Ch. i. 6 The community which he had assumed the spiritual charge of. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xii. 180 He assumed the monastic habit. |
† b. with upon and refl. pron. (Cf. ‘To take upon oneself’). Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 439/1 To assume upon the this great charge. 1578 Thynne Perf. Ambass. in Animadv. Introd. 60, I could not..assume such enterprize upon me. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 224 The curse..he assumed upon himself of his own accord. |
6. (with inf.) in Law. To undertake, give an undertaking.
| 1602 W. Fulbecke 2nd Pt. Parall. 21 That A{ddd}did assume to carrie his horse..ouer the water of Humber sound and safe. 1641 [see assumpsit]. 1795 Wyllie Amer. Law Rep. 74 The appellee pleaded that he did not assume. |
III. To take as being one's own, to arrogate, pretend to, claim, take for granted.
7. trans. To take to oneself as a right or possession; to lay claim to, appropriate, arrogate, usurp.
| 1548 Hall Chron. Hen. VII, an. 1 (R.) This Lambert might assume..the person and name of one of kyng Edward the fourthes chyldren. 1627 Feltham Resolves i. vi. Wks. 1677, 7 Such..think there is no way to get Honour, but by a bold assuming it. 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 345 Murray assumed to himself the praise of all that was done. 1833 I. Taylor Fanat. x. 461 That disposition..to assume..intolerant jurisdiction over other men's conduct. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 126 The king assumed to himself the right of filling up the chief municipal offices. |
8. To take to oneself in appearance only, to pretend to possess; to pretend, simulate, feign.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 160 Assume a Vertue, if you haue it not. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 14 Ignorant both of the character they leave, and of the character they assume. 1853 Lytton My Novel vi. xxiv, The scepticism, assumed or real, of the ill-fated aspirer. |
9. (with inf.) To put forth claims or pretensions; to claim, pretend.
| 1714 Spect. No. 630 ¶16 As Gentlemen (for we Citizens assume to be such one day in a Week). 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. lviii, Witnesses who had or assumed to have knowledge of the fact. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. xxiv. (1865) 406 Sage saws assuming to inculcate content. |
10. trans. To take for granted as the basis of argument or action; to suppose: a. that a thing is, a thing to be.
| 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 680 Plotinus alwaies assumeth that beatitude and eternity goeth ever together. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. xlviii. Schol., We assumed in the demonstration of the last Proposition CD = BC. 1841 Myers Cath. Th. iii. §25. 91 To assume that we have the most accurate possible translation. 1868 Peard Water-farm. x. 103 The entire length of our farm is assumed to be about thirty-two miles. |
b. a thing.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 273 His labours are rationall, and uncontroulable upon the grounds assumed. 1790 Paley Hor. Paul. i. 1 Assuming the truth of the history. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 294 William assumes the willingness of the Assembly. |
11. Logic. To add the minor premiss to a syllogism. Cf. assumption 12.
| 1628 T. Spencer Logic 294 The antecedent is assumed, when the words of it are barely repeated in the second proposition, or assumption. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vi. §25 V. 86 Thus the Major may propound what it pleaseth, and the Minor assume what it listeth. 1837 Sir W. Hamilton Logic xv. (1866) I. 285 The distinctive peculiarity of the minor premise,—that of being a subordinate proposition,—a proposition taken or assumed under another. |