Meaning of assume in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /əˈsum/

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  1. Verb

    assume

    Etymology

    late Middle English: from Latin assumere, from ad-‘towards’ + sumere‘take’

    Definitions

    1. take to be the case or to be true

    Examples

    • « accept without verification or proof »
    • « I assume his train was late »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities

    Examples

    • « When will the new President assume office? »

    Derived terms

  3. 3. take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

    Examples

    • « His voice took on a sad tone »
    • « The story took a new turn »
    • « he adopted an air of superiority »
    • « She assumed strange manners »
    • « The gods assume human or animal form in these fables »
  4. 4. take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person

    Examples

    • « I'll accept the charges »
    • « She agreed to bear the responsibility »

    Derived terms

  5. 5. occupy or take on

    Examples

    • « He assumes the lotus position »
    • « She took her seat on the stage »
    • « We took our seats in the orchestra »
    • « She took up her position behind the tree »
    • « strike a pose »
  6. 6. seize and take control without authority and possibly with force

    Examples

    • « take as one's right or possession »
    • « He assumed to himself the right to fill all positions in the town »
    • « he usurped my rights »
    • « She seized control of the throne after her husband died »

    Derived terms

  7. 7. make a pretence of

    Examples

    • « She assumed indifference, even though she was seething with anger »
    • « he feigned sleep »

    Derived terms

  8. 8. Christianity, obsolete

    Examples

    • « take up someone's soul into heaven »
    • « This is the day when May was assumed into heaven »

    Derived terms

  9. 9. put clothing on one's body

    Examples

    • « What should I wear today? »
    • « He put on his best suit for the wedding »
    • « The princess donned a long blue dress »
    • « The queen assumed the stately robes »
    • « He got into his jeans »

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « I became a larger than life figure for one reason only. When you're quoted in the 'Wall Street Journal,' the 'New York Times,' constantly as the expert in the business people assume you're a lot bigger than you are. And then I had to run like hell to catch up with my own image. »
    Barbara Corcoran
  • « I don't believe that I personally have been changed by the money. The bad thing is people assume you've changed because now you have money. »
    Shaquille O'Neal
  • « I think you just assume that your memory is just sort of a video playback of your experience, but it's nothing like that at all. It's a complete refabrication of an event and a lot of it is made up, because you're filling in spaces. »
    Charlie Kaufman
  • « World War II had been such a tremendous success story for this country that the political and military leadership began to assume that they would prevail simply because of who they were. We were like the British at the turn of the 19th century. »
    Neil Sheehan
  • « One of the great intellectual failures of the American intelligence community, and especially the counterterrorism community, is to assume if someone hasn't attacked us, it's because he can't or because we've defeated him. »
    Michael Scheuer

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