Presume
/prɪˈzjuːm/noun
To suppose something is true without certain proof, or to take something on oneself without right.
Did you know?Presume comes from Latin praesumere, a verb built from prae- (“before”) + sumere (“to take”), so the word originally carried the eerie sense of seizing something in advance.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sem-
“to take, grasp, or seize”
Latin
Latin
sumere
“to take, pick up, or seize”
Latin
Latin
praesumere
“to take beforehand; to anticipate; later, to take too much upon oneself”
Old French
Old French
presumer
“to suppose in advance; to assume”
Middle English
English
presumen
“to suppose, take for granted, or venture to do”
Modern English
English
presume
“to suppose something is true without certain evidence, or to act too boldly”