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▪ I. proposition, n.|prɒpəʊˈzɪʃən|
[ME. proposicioun, a. F. proposition (12th c. in Littré), ad. L. prōpositiōn-em a setting forth, purpose, theme, statement, n. of action f. prōpōn-ĕre: see propone.]
1. The action of setting forth or presenting to view or perception; presentation, exhibition. In quot. 1584, representation by a figure, delineation (cf. propound v. 5). Now rare.
† loaves of proposition, in Jewish Hist., the show-bread; so table of proposition. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 181 Þe holy looves of proposicioun. 1382― Exod. xxv. 30 Thow shalt putte vpon the bord looues of propicisioun [1388 proposicioun], euermore in my siȝt. 1549Compl. Scot. ix. 76 He..reft the goldin alter..ande the tabil of propositione. 1584Lyly Campaspe iii. iv, Alex. Where doe you first begin, when you drawe any picture? Apel. The proposition of the face in iust compasse, as I can. c1624Lushington Recant. Serm. in Phenix (1708) II. 494 The 12 loaves of proposition. 1866Liturgy Ch. Sarum 67 note, A proposition of Christ under the sacramental veils, to receive the adoration of the faithful.
†2.
a. The action of putting forward or offering for acceptance; an offer. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 3 The ample proposition that hope makes In all designes. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. i. Ad Sect. iv. 50 He..sweetly allures us by the proposition of rewards.
b. The action of proposing a person for election or admission. rare. (In quot. attrib.)
1901Scotsman 21 Nov. 8/1 The proposition book did shew entries of a considerable number of names.
3. a. The action of propounding something, or that which is propounded; the setting forth of something as a subject of discourse; something proposed for discussion, or as a basis of argument; spec. an introductory part of a speech or literary work, in which the speaker or writer sets forth the subject to be treated. In quots. 1845, the speech with which the Emperor opened the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Now rare or Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter xlviii. 4, I sall oppyn in psawtry my proposicion. 1382Wyclif Ps. lxxvii[i]. 2, I shal speke proposiciouns fro the begynnyng. 1552Huloet s.v., A proposition is an argument or matter proposed to be disputed and reasoned vpon. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. 97 Proposicion is a short rehersall of that wherof we mynde to speake. 1635–56Cowley Davideis i. Note i, The custom of beginning all Poems, with a Proposition of the whole work, and an Invocation of some God for his assistance to go through with it, is..observed by all the ancient Poets. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 158 ⁋12 The proposition of the Eneid closes with dignity. 1775Burke Sp. Conc. Amer. Wks. III. 33 The plan..derives..one great advantage from the proposition and registry of that noble lord's project. 1845S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 517 The Proposition with which he opened the diet sufficiently showed that the young emperor was determined to avail himself of it. Ibid. III. 163 The first thing was to appoint a committee to deliberate and report upon the Proposition.
†b. A question proposed for solution; a problem; a riddle. Obs.
Also in Logic in a special sense: see problem 2 b, quot. 1656.
1382Wyclif Judg. xiv. 18 If ȝe hadden not erid in my she calf, ȝe shulden not haue founden my proposicioun. ― Dan. viii. 23 There shal ryse a king..vndirstondynge proposiciouns [gloss or resouns]. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 246 It is as easie to count Atomies as to resolue the propositions of a Louer.
c. Music. The proposing or ‘giving out’ of a subject for contrapuntal treatment; the subject so proposed.
1890in Cent. Dict. 1898Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Subject, In a fugue the subject is called also the exposition, dux, proposition.
4. a. (a) The making of a statement about something; a sentence or form of words in which this is done; a statement, an assertion. (b) In Logic, a form of words in which something (the predicate) is affirmed or denied of something (the subject), the relation between them being expressed by the copula; sometimes extended to the form of thought or mental process expressed by this, more strictly called a judgement (9 b).
1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. i. (Skeat) I. 71 Your mercy than passeth right. God graunt that proposicion to be verifyed in me. c1530More Answ. Frith Wks. 841/1 But lette thys fyrste proposicion passe, and come nowe to the secounde,..that is, that the body of Chryste cannot be at once in all places. 1654Bramhall Just Vind. ii. (1661) 27 Though it be not in the power of any Councel..to make that proposition heretical,..which was not heretical ever from the dayes of the Apostles. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. Wks. 1843 VII. 81 That the proposition, two and two make four, is neither more nor less than a proposition concerning the import of words. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight i. 10 A proposition too plain to admit of argument.
(b)1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) VII. 281 If ye redde logike, reduce to mynde a proposicion: That thynge whiche hathe effecte in the holle, hathe effecte in the parte. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 18 A Proposition is, a perfecte sentence spoken by the Indicatiue mode, signifying either a true thyng, or a false. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 182/1 Of that Speech which we call Proposition, there are two kinds; Affirmation and Negation. 1725Watts Logic ii. ii. §1 Propositions may be divided according to their subject into universal and particular; this is usually called a division arising from the quantity. 1827Whately Logic ii. i. §2 (ed. 2) 55 An act of apprehension expressed in language, is called a term; an act of judgement, a proposition; an act of reasoning, an argument. 1836–7Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. xxxvii. (1870) II. 336 The whole mental judgement, formed by the subject, predicate, and copula, is called, when enounced in words, proposition.
b. spec. Either of the premisses of a syllogism; esp. the major premiss (opposed to assumption 12). Now rare or Obs.
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 23 The matter [i.e. the middle term] is twise rehearsed in the firste and seconde Proposition, and entreth not into the conclusion. 1604James I Counterbl. (Arb.) 102 Of this Argument, both the Proposition and Assumption are false, and so the Conclusion cannot but be voyd of it selfe. 1628T. Spencer Logick 266 We learne from Aristotle, cap. 48. that, the proposition and assumption may be vniversall, yet the conclusion not vniversall. 1725Watts Logic iii. ii. §3 There is also a fourth figure, wherein the middle term is predicated in the major proposition, and subjected in the minor. 1837–8Sir W. Hamilton Logic xv. (1866) I. 281 Of the premises, the one which enounces the general rule or the relation of the greatest quantity to the lesser, is called the Major Premise, or Major Proposition or the Proposition simply.
5. Math. A formal statement of a truth to be demonstrated or of an operation to be performed (in the former case called distinctively a theorem, in the latter a problem); in common parlance often including the demonstration.
1570Billingsley Euclid. i. 8 Propositions..are sentences set forth to be proued by reasoning and demonstrations. Ibid., Propositions are of two sortes, the one is called a Probleme, the other a Theoreme. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. ii. §6 The finding out of that demonstration, which is now contained in the 47 proposition of the first of Euclide. 1718Quincy Compl. Disp. 16 These Propositions, which are demonstrated in Hydrostaticks. 1810Hutton Course Math. I. 2 A Corollary..is a consequence drawn immediately from some proposition.
6. a. The action of proposing something to be done; something put forward as a scheme or plan of action; a proposal; spec. in U.S., (a) see quot. a 1727; (b) a constitutional proposal.
1382Wyclif 1 Kings xviii. 24 Al the puple answerynge seith, Best the proposicioun, that Helias spac. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. V 23 b, When the protector had harde the proposicion, he loked very strangely therat. 1579Fenton Guicciard. i. (1599) 14 This proposition had no willing passage into the eares or harts of the great Lords of France. 1653Sir E. Hyde in Evelyn's Mem. (1819) II. 206 Any such proposicons and expedients which you thinke fitt to offer for the promoting his seruice. a1727in Colden Hist. Five Indian Nat. 41 Without laying down either Bever or any Belt or Wampum, as we always do when we make Propositions. [Note.] The word Proposition has always been used by the Commissioners for the Indian Affairs at Albany, to signifie Proposals or Articles. a1806C. J. Fox Reign Jas. II (1808) 101 That a proposition to the Prince of Orange, to connect himself in politicks with Lewis, would..have been rejected. a1873Wilberforce Ess. (1874) II. 321 We hold it essential to our success..that the proposition of Sir George Clerk should be adopted. 1921Congress. Rec. 21 Feb. 3537/1 If this particular proposition were a law, and the Federal Trade Commission were given the authority that is herein provided, they would protect the country and the people in it by proper license. 1979Tucson Mag. Jan. 25/1 Today's mad, mad world of Proposition 13 and other horrors. 1979Time 13 Aug. 24/1 County officials hope the mistake will work in their favor, on the somewhat shaky grounds that the absurdity of Proposition .004 will defeat it.
†b. in proposition for, in treaty for. Obs.
1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 39 To go over into Ireland to Survey some Iron works, Woods and Lands which they were in proposition for.
7. a. An enterprise or project submitted for consideration or action; a matter, problem, or undertaking which requires attention; also with respect to ease or difficulty of performance, etc., as an easy proposition, serious proposition, tough proposition and with regard to likelihood of (commercial) success, as business proposition, mining proposition. orig. U.S.
1877R. J. Burdette Rise & Fall of Mustache 258 For a long time the good lady held out stoutly against the chicken proposition. 1893Scribner's Mag. June 756/1 ‘Arn't you ashamed to tell me this?’ ‘Of course I am, but that isn't the proposition just now.’ 1896Ade Artie xviii. 168 I'm goin' against a tough proposition. 1902O. Wister Virginian ii. 19 The biggest tobacco proposition for five cents got out yet. Ibid. xviii. 214, I saw over in a fenced meadow..what he was pleased to call ‘the proposition’. Proposition in the West does, in fact, mean whatever you at the moment please. 1906Daily News 24 Jan. 12/3 Later on it was found that the Main Reef series of gold⁓bearing rock dipped into this property, which became an attractive mining ‘proposition’, as the slang phrase goes. 1909S. E. White Rules of Game iii. ix. 181 We're the only two business propositions in this country. 1929Daily Express 7 Nov. 2/5 Every industry I want to nationalize must be a business proposition. 1932E. Wilson Devil take Hindmost viii. 70 Care of the worker is a money⁓saving proposition. 1941Strand Mag. June 140/2 All I know is that I've got to find her. The question is, how? And it won't surprise you to hear that it appears to me to be a pretty stiff proposition. 1958Economist 26 July 271 Once the basic capital expenditure has been made on a machine and microphone, this is definitely an economic proposition.
b. transf. of persons.
1901Tit-Bits 27 July 416/2 He was a pretty smooth proposition himself. 1908C. E. Mulford Orphan xiv. 178 I'd rather have him with me in a mix-up than against me. He's the coolest proposition loose in this part of the country at any game. 1915T. Burke Nights in Town 19 He is educated..to regard himself as, in the Broadway phrase, a serious proposition. 1925C. E. Mulford Cottonwood Gulch vii. 92 Knife fighters are bad propositions. 1979‘H. Howard’ Sealed Envelope v. 74 Soon as I discovered she was an easy proposition I dropped out. I don't go for a twist who sleeps in anybody's bed.
8. Comb., as (sense 4) proposition-forming adj.
1955A. N. Prior Formal Logic iii. iii. 261 We may define in terms of ‘ε’ another proposition-forming operator. 1968Hughes & Cresswell Introd. Modal Logic ii. 23 ‘It is necessary that’ is thus a (monadic) proposition-forming operator on propositions.
Add:[6.] c. euphem. A proposal or invitation to engage in sexual intercourse; a sexual advance or ‘pass’. Cf. proposition v. 2. orig. U.S.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §354/2 Proposition, a proposal for an illicit love affair. 1958I. Brown Words in Our Time 88 There is thus a nice distinction between a proposal, which implies marriage, and a proposition, which does not. 1976J. Masters Himalayan Concerto xiii. 161, I didn't take her up on a proposition she made me..a bodily proposition. 1982Chicago Sun-Times 25 Nov. 7/1 Some weeks ago I wrote about Karen Downs, an attractive woman who was sick of the catcalls and propositions she received every time she set foot outside her house.
▪ II. proposition, v. orig. U.S.|prɒpəʊˈzɪʃən|
[f. the n.]
1. trans. To make or present a proposition to (a person). (Sometimes with unfavourable connotations.)
1924H. C. Witwer Love & Learn x. 275, I finally got Ike sold on the idea that my plan was a good thought and he departed to proposition Hershel. 1927Collier's 24 Dec. 36/4 He propositioned her to use his lodge at Big Bear [Lake] for her party. 1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 91/2 Propositioned, asked to join in an unlawful undertaking. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 194 One need be very little of a purist to recoil from the current expression ‘I propositioned him’, meaning, of course, ‘I made a proposition to him’. 1947E. Andrews Hist. Scientific Eng. xiv. 252 It makes us more tolerant today when we hear a businessman speak of ‘contacting’ a customer or, worse yet, of ‘propositioning’ him. 1949Chicago Tribune 10 Dec. 12/5 Count that day gained in which A sofomore sonny Won't proposition pop For movie money! 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar iii. 20 I'm propositioning you... What is wrong with the proposition? 1967Punch 28 June 949/2 While being propositioned by Lord Beaverbrook about becoming the film critic of the Evening Standard, I nervously filled in a yawning silence by telling this anecdote. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 660 [They] sailed up river to the landing of a farm owned by an old man.., and there they propositioned him: ‘You ain't gonna have much more use for your long gun... We aim to buy it.’ 1979Dædalus Summer 46 The deputy..proceeds to proposition her with a debased contract.
2. To request sexual favours from (a person); to solicit.
1936J. G. Cozzens Men & Brethren i. 139 There's no real reason to be embarrassed because your clerical collar keeps you from feeling free to proposition every woman you meet. 1946‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Fiends iii. 23 You..had him proposition you in a canoe? 1949K. Malone in Kirby & Woolf Philologica 317 To proposition, at least in the field of amour, is not only distinct from to propose, but in a sense antithetical to propose. 1953W. Burroughs Junkie vi. 60, I remember once he told me how he'd been propositioned by a queer who offered him twenty dollars. 1963T. Pynchon V. xi. 328 The girls were professional and tried for a while to proposition Fausto and Dnubietna. 1974M. Gilbert Flash Point xii. 105 This girl stopped me, by asking me for a cigarette... There was no question of me propositioning her or annoying her. 1975New Yorker 4 Aug. 25/1 In Hyde Park, that black whore had propositioned him as he walked from work toward the Tube. |