premise
/ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈpɹem.ɪs/
premise noun: a proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
Noun
premise (plural premises)
- A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
- The premises observed,
Thy will by my performance shall be served.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- The premises observed,
- Any of the first propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced.
- While the premises stand firm, 'tis impossible to shake the conclusion.1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC
- Matters previously stated or set forth; especially, that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
- A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts.
- trespass on another’s premises
- On the premises is a beautiful lawn, well stocked with flowering shrubs; hard and soft water.1899 September 27, The Daily Review (Peterborough, Ont., Canada), volume 37, number 72, page 1a
- The fundamental concept that drives the plot of a film or other story.
- In 1949, the simple premise of discovering ordinary people who have hidden, extraordinary talents came to prominence in the UK with Opportunity Knocks, which started out as a nationwide touring radio show, before moving onto TV in 1956.2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC
Verb
premise (third-person singular simple present premises, present participle premising, simple past and past participle premised)
- To state or assume something as a proposition to an argument.
- To make a premise.
- To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows.
- I premise these particulars that the reader may know that I enter upon it as a very ungrateful task.1712 February 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, February 2, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 291; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The...
- Having premised thus much, we will now detain those who like our bill of fare no longer from their diet, and shall proceed directly to serve up the first course of our history for their entertainment.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.
- the premised flames of the last day1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- if venesection can be previously performed, even to but few ounces, the effect of the opium is much more certain; and still more so, if there be time to premise a brisk cathartic, or even an emetic1794–1796, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia
premise meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
premise in Hindi
- proposition antecedently supposed or proved
- आधार ādhār, पूर्वाधार pūrvādhār
- either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced
- पूर्वाधार pūrvādhār
- piece of real estate
- परिसर parisar, प्रांगण prāṅgaṇ
premise in Tamil
- முதற்கோள்
premise in Urdu
- بنیاد
premise in Bengali
- প্রতিজ্ঞা, সূচনা করা, উদাহরণ
More languagesFewer languages
- premise in Malayalam
- പ്രമേയം, പ്രസ്താവം, അനുമാനം, പീഠിക
- premise in Kannada
- ಆಧಾರಪ್ರಮೇಯ, ಆಧಾರವಾಕ್ಯ, ಆಧಾರವಚನ, ಪೂರ್ವಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತ
- premise in Tagalog
- kahunaan
- premise in Arabic
- مُقَدِّمَة muqaddima
- premise in Thai
- ข้อตั้ง
- premise in Vietnamese
- tiền đề
Examples of premise in a sentence
- You are hereby ordered to vacate the premises within 14 days.
- I don't think you can infer that from the premise. It's a faulty argument.
- The opening hours of licensed premises are restricted to prevent all-night drinking.
Forms of premise
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | premises |
| alternative form | premiss |
| alternative form (archaic) | præmise |
| alternative form (archaic) | præmiss |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | premises |
| present participle | premising |
| past participle | premised |
| past | premised |
Origin of premise
From Middle English premise, premisse, from Old French premisse, from Medieval Latin premissa (“set before”) (premissa propositio (“the proposition set before”)), feminine past participle of Latin praemittere (“to send or put before”), from prae- (“before”) + mittere (“to send”). Sense 4, a piece of real estate arose from the misinterpretation of the word by property owners while reading title deeds where the word was used with the legal sense.
Words formed from premise
Words that rhyme with premise
Questions about premise
- What does premise mean?
- Premise means a proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
- What is premise in Hindi?
- Premise in Hindi is आधार (ādhār), पूर्वाधार (pūrvādhār), परिसर (parisar). See Premise meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is premise?
- Premise can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce premise?
- Premise is pronounced /ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of premise?
- The plural of premise is premises.
Words near premise in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: premise (page history and authors); premise (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); premise (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); premise (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); premise (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); premise (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-premise.wav.
Cite this entry: “premise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/premise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.