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Assume

 - 4 dictionary results

as⋅sume

  [uh-soom] verb (used with object), -sumed, -sum⋅ing.
Use Assume in a Sentence
1. to take for granted or without proof; suppose; postulate; posit: to assume that everyone wants peace.
2. to take upon oneself; undertake: to assume an obligation.
3. to take over the duties or responsibilities of: to assume the office of treasurer.
4. to take on (a particular character, quality, mode of life, etc.); adopt: He assumed the style of an aggressive go-getter.
5. to take on; be invested or endowed with: The situation assumed a threatening character.
6. to pretend to have or be; feign: to assume a humble manner.
7. to appropriate or arrogate; seize; usurp: to assume a right to oneself; to assume control.
8. to take upon oneself (the debts or obligations of another).
9. Archaic. to take into relation or association; adopt.
–verb (used without object)
10. to take something for granted; presume.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME (< AF assumer) < L assūmere to take to, adopt, equiv. to as- as- + sūmere to take up; see consume

Related forms:
as⋅sum⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. presuppose. 6. See pretend.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Assume
as·sume   (ə-sōōm')   
tr.v.   as·sumed, as·sum·ing, as·sumes

  1. To take upon oneself: assume responsibility; assume another's debts.

  2. To undertake the duties of (an office): assumed the presidency.

  3. To take on; adopt: "The god assumes a human form" (John Ruskin).

  4. To put on; don: The queen assumed a velvet robe.

  5. To affect the appearance or possession of; feign.

  6. To take for granted; suppose: assumed that prices would rise. See Synonyms at presume.

  7. To take over without justification; seize: assume control.

  8. To take up or receive into heaven.


[Middle English assumen, from Latin assūmere : ad-, ad- + sūmere, to take; see em- in Indo-European roots.]
as·sum'a·bil'i·ty n., as·sum'a·ble adj., as·sum'a·bly adv., as·sum'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

assume 
1436, "to receive up into heaven" (especially of the Virgin Mary, e.g. Feast of the Assumption, celebrated Aug. 15, attested from 1297), from L. assumere "to take up," from ad- "to, up" + sumere "to take," from sub "under" + emere "to take" (see exempt). Early pp. was assumpt. Meaning "to suppose" is first recorded 1598. In rhetorical usage, assume expresses what the assumer postulates, often as a confessed hypothesis; presume expresses what the presumer really believes.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: as·sume
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: as·sumed; as·sum·ing
1 : to voluntarily take upon oneself <assume a risk>
2 : to take over (the debts or obligations of another) as one's own <assume a mortgage>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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