Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Presume for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Presume" — verb, pronounced /prɪˈzjuːm/, with the stress on "sume".
Narrator: To presume means to think something is probably true, although you are not certain.
Narrator: In plain English, you take it for granted.
Narrator: It comes from the Latin praesumere, to take beforehand.
Narrator: A common collocation is "presumed dead", which describes someone missing and believed to have died.
Narrator: It differs from "assume", because presume suggests a reasonable basis, while assume can be pure guesswork.
Narrator: In a second sense, to presume to do something means to do it rudely, without the right.
Narrator: Law, conversation, journalism and history all rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: to presume is to take something as likely.
Speaker A: Why did the famous explorer say "Dr Livingstone, I presume"?
Speaker B: Because he was fairly sure! PRESUME comes from the Latin for taking beforehand.
Speaker A: So it's a polite guess?
Speaker B: Exactly.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "I presume you've eaten", a likely guess. "He is presumed innocent", a legal rule. "Don't presume to tell me what to do", a rebuke.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Do not confuse presume with resume; resume means to start again.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Assume is its cousin, suppose is its twin, and reckon is the casual alternative, but presume keeps its courteous charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "presume" in AI prompts — useful for data analysis and customer service.
Speaker A: How would data analysis use it?
Speaker B: State assumptions.
Prompt: Analyse this sales data and list anything you presume about missing values before calculating totals.
Speaker A: And customer service?
Speaker B: Avoid rudeness.
Prompt: Rewrite this reply so it does not presume the customer made a mistake.
Speaker A: Could it help legal research?
Speaker B: Yes, explaining principles.
Prompt: Explain in plain English what it means that a defendant is presumed innocent in England.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Coding.
Prompt: Add comments to this function noting what inputs it presumes are valid.
Presume — meaning in Arabic & definition More P courses GL Dictionary