supposition

sup·po·si·tion

(sŭp′ə-zĭsh′ən)

1. The act of supposing.

2. Something supposed; an assumption.

sup′po·si′tion·al adj.

sup′po·si′tion·al·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

supposition

(ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃən)

1. the act of supposing

2. a fact, theory, etc, that is supposed

ˌsuppoˈsitional adj

ˌsuppoˈsitionally adv

ˌsuppoˈsitionless adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sup•po•si•tion

(ˌsʌp əˈzɪʃ ən)

n.

1. the act of supposing.

2. something that is supposed; assumption; hypothesis.

[1400–50; late Middle English < Medieval Latin suppositiō, Latin: substitution =supposi-, variant s. of suppōnere to put under, substitute (sup- sup- + pōnere to place) + -tiō -tion; compare suppose]

sup`po•si′tion•al, adj.

sup`po•si′tion•al•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	supposition - a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence guess, speculation, surmisal, surmise, conjecture, hypothesis opinion, view - a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof; "his opinions appeared frequently on the editorial page" divination - successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck
	2.	supposition - a hypothesis that is taken for granted; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" supposal, assumption conclusion - an intuitive assumption; "jump to a conclusion" cornerstone, fundament, groundwork, basis, foundation, base - the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; "the whole argument rested on a basis of conjecture" hypothesis, theory, possibility - a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices" given, presumption, precondition - an assumption that is taken for granted basic assumption, constatation, self-evident truth - an assumption that is basic to an argument
	3.	supposition - the cognitive process of supposing supposal conjecture - reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence presupposition - the act of presupposing; a supposition made prior to having knowledge (as for the purpose of argument)

supposition

noun belief, idea, notion, view, theory, speculation, assumption, hypothesis, presumption, conjecture, postulate, surmise, guesswork There's a popular supposition that we're publicly funded.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

supposition

noun

1. A judgment, estimate, or opinion arrived at by guessing:

conjecture, guess, guesswork, speculation, surmise.

2. Something taken to be true without proof:

assumption, postulate, postulation, premise, presupposition, theory, thesis.

Translations

Annahme

υπόθεση

suposición supuesto

hypothèse supposition

supposizione

supposition

[ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃən] N → suposición f
that is pure supposition → eso es una suposición or hipótesis nada más
the report was based on supposition → el informe estaba basado en suposiciones
it's based on the supposition that → se basa en la hipótesis de que ...

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

supposition

[ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃ^ən] n → supposition f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

supposition

n (no pl: = hypothesizing) → Mutmaßung f, → Spekulation f; (= thing supposed) → Annahme f; based on (a) pure supposition → auf reiner Spekulation beruhend; going on the supposition that you are right → vorausgesetzt, dass Sie recht haben

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

supposition

[ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃ/ən] n (frm) → supposizione f, ipotesi f inv
on the supposition that ... → partendo dal presupposto che...+ sub

References in classic literature ?

The only refuge left for those who prophesy the downfall of the State governments is the visionary supposition that the federal government may previously accumulate a military force for the projects of ambition.

On the first supposition, it will be restrained by that dependence from forming schemes obnoxious to their constituents.

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The supposition that each confederacy into which the States would be likely to be divided would require a government not less comprehensive than the one proposed, will be strengthened by another supposition, more probable than that which presents us with three confederacies as the alternative to a general Union.

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On this supposition, I, in the first place, described this matter, and essayed to represent it in such a manner that to my mind there can be nothing clearer and more intelligible, except what has been recently said regarding God and the soul; for I even expressly supposed that it possessed none of those forms or qualities which are so debated in the schools, nor in general anything the knowledge of which is not so natural to our minds that no one can so much as imagine himself ignorant of it.

This physician likewise abundantly establishes what he has advanced respecting the motion of the blood, from the existence of certain pellicles, so disposed in various places along the course of the veins, in the manner of small valves, as not to permit the blood to pass from the middle of the body towards the extremities, but only to return from the extremities to the heart; and farther, from experience which shows that all the blood which is in the body may flow out of it in a very short time through a single artery that has been cut, even although this had been closely tied in the immediate neighborhood of the heart and cut between the heart and the ligature, so as to prevent the supposition that the blood flowing out of it could come from any other quarter than the heart.

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The surprise of the rest of the family, on hearing who their visitor had been, was very great; but they obligingly satisfied it, with the same kind of supposition which had appeased Mrs.

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Pleasing myself with the idea that the supposition might in part arise out of some ingenuity in the story, and thinking it worth while, in the interests of art, to hint to an audience that an artist (of whatever denomination) may perhaps be trusted to know what he is about in his vocation, if they will concede him a little patience, I was not alarmed by the anticipation.

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But such a supposition did by no means involve the remotest suspicion as to any boat's crew being assigned to that boat.

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But not to speak of the passage through the whole length of the Mediterranean, and another passage up the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, such a supposition would involve the complete circumnavigation of all Africa in three days, not to speak of the Tigris waters, near the site of Nineveh, being too shallow for any whale to swim in.

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This supposition so well reconciled his conduct to the general opinion, that it met with universal assent; and the outcry against his lenity soon began to take another turn, and was changed into an invective against his cruelty to the poor girl.

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Bartholomew was not due to Charles IX's will, though he gave the order for it and thought it was done as a result of that order; and strange as it may seem to suppose that the slaughter of eighty thousand men at Borodino was not due to Napoleon's will, though he ordered the commencement and conduct of the battle and thought it was done because he ordered it; strange as these suppositions appear, yet human dignity- which tells me that each of us is, if not more at least not less a man than the great Napoleon- demands the acceptance of that solution of the question, and historic investigation abundantly confirms it.

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Alexey Alexandrovitch made it a rule to see his wife every day, so that the servants might have no grounds for suppositions, but avoided dining at home.