suppositionn.
/ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌsəpəˈzɪʃən/ I. Senses involving mental action. Cf. suppose v. I.
1. Scholastic Logic. The way in which a term relates to the objects it is being used to talk about (in a particular context); any of the various different meanings of a term; signification, denotation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > scholasticism > [noun] > a meaning of a term
suppositiona1398
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > term of a proposition > [noun] > that which is denoted or a meaning
suppositiona1398
suppositum1889
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. i. xix. 54 God is inempned by ten names... Þe tenthe name is Eloym and is þe name of þe trinite... And þerfore among þe Hebrewes he is boþe singuler noumbre and plurel and tokeneth þe essenciam in vnite with supposicioun of þre persones.
1599 T. Blundeville Art of Logike 4 By supposition is a word which of his owne natural signification being common and uniuersal, is made notwithstanding by supposition a singular word and to signifie but one thing onely.
1697 tr. F. Burgersdijck Monitio Logica i. xxvi. 106 The diverse Acceptions of Words, which the Schoolmen call Suppositions, Effect no Homonymy... When I say Man is an Animal, the Word Animal is taken in the Concrete... This Concrete Acception is by the Schoolmen termed Personal, who dispute very largely of Acceptions, or, as they speak, Suppositions.
1858 A. R. Fausset tr. J. A. Burk Index Techn. Terms in W. Fletcher tr. J. A. Bengel Gnomon New Test. V. 403 This is put with a material supposition [L. hoc ponitur suppositione materiali]; for there is to be supplied, It is written, and it is being fulfilled.
1893 tr. L. de Poissy Elem. Course Christian Philos. 14 In every proposition, the supposition of the subject is according to the requirement of the predicate; hence a numerical term requires a collective supposition; as, ‘The Apostles are twelve’; a necessary term requires a distributive supposition; as, ‘Animals are sensitive’.
1954 Isis 45 299 There is here singled out..the central distinction between personal (or formal) supposition where the term is interpreted in a proposition for whatever it was coined to designate, and material supposition where the term is interpreted within a proposition autonomously as the name of itself, quite as in modern practice ‘Boston’ names Boston.
2010 A. Kenny New Hist. Western Philos. ii. iii. 355 The most basic kind of supposition is called by Peter of Spain ‘natural supposition’: this is the capacity that a significant general term has to supposit for (i.e. stand for) any item to which the term applies. The way in which this capacity is exercised in different contexts gives rise to different forms of supposition.
2.
a. An assumption (without reference to its truth or falsehood) used as a basis of argument, or for the purpose of tracing the consequences; a premise from which a conclusion is drawn. Also: the action of making such an assumption.In early use often a term of scholastic logic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > scholasticism > [noun] > stages of argument
suppositionc1449
the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > taking for granted, presumption > assume, presuppose [verb (transitive)] > as basis for argument
seta1340
supposec1350
posec1385
putc1390
to put (also set) the casec1405
suppositionc1449
demit1556
suppose1594
s'pose1632
case1647
feign1688
posit1697
postulate1705
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 186 (MED) Wherfore, alle thingis seen, this..reule or supposicion is trewe.
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 91 (MED) What if all þe gold þat all men han..O man it hadde in his possessioun? This gold þan be this supposicioun, Alle othere men most nedy make.
1528 J. Skelton Honorificatissimo: Replycacion agaynst Yong Scolers sig. Aivv But ye were Confuse tantum Surrendring your supposycions.
1534 G. Joye Subuersion Moris False Found. f. xxiv He wolde deduce a false deduccion of a false supposicion.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Liiiv Those rules of restryctyons, amplyfycatyons and supposytyons, very wittelye inuented in the small Logycalles.
a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. C3v Who knowes not the double motion of the plannets? The first is finisht in a naturall day, The second thus, as Saturne in 30. yeares,..the Moone in 28. dayes. Tush these are fresh mens suppositions.
1638 W. Chillingworth Relig. Protestants i. vi. 366 The first of these suppositions must needs be true, but the second is apparently false.
1669 J. Owen Pract. Expos. 130th Psalm 338 The due performance of all principal mutual Gospel Duties..depends on this supposition, that [etc.].
1704 J. Norris Ess. Ideal World II. xi. 414 The position of this chapter involves a supposition. It is here supposed that there are Divine Ideas.
1706 M. Prior Ode to Queen Pref. Upon the Supposition of these Facts, Virgil wrote the best Poem that the World ever read.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. i. 16 Upon supposition that they are compounded.
1754 J. Edwards Careful Enq. Freedom of Will i. iii. 16 All Opposition of the Will is shut out and denied, in the very Supposition of the Case.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 358 This calculation goes on the supposition that each mower dispatches three acres.
a1782 W. Emerson Elem. Geom. (1794) Pref. p. vi It is an axiom in logic, that that supposition must needs be true, which destroys the contrary supposition.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 45 Making the other number of supposition the 1st term.
1836 H. Rogers Life J. Howe (1863) ii. 32 On the supposition—a supposition which the whole history of the period amply justifies [etc.].
1855 U. Parke Lect. Philos. Arithm. (ed. 5) xv. 231 There are cases in which the errors in result continue proportionate to the errors in supposition.
1887 48th Rep. Deputy Keeper Public Rec. 625 The supposition that the defendant had broken the plaintiff's close.
1920 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 77/1 Einstein starts with two suppositions. One is that all motion is relative.
1967 Harvard Stud. Classical Philol. 71 259 Though his efforts ended in frustration, he had hoped to deduce the truth of the parallel postulate from the supposition of its falsity.
2000 Oxoniensia 64 205 This ordering is based on the supposition that the elements would have been simultaneously deposited and that the resulting differences are due to taphonomic processes.
b. An assumption made to account for known facts; = hypothesis n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > taking for granted, presumption > [noun]
presumptiona1250
presuppositiona1533
sumption1572
assuming1602
supposition1603
postulation1648
assumption1656
positing1854
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > hypothesis > [noun]
supposition1603
postulate1643
hypothesis1646
system1650
substration1830
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1187 One of those suppositions [Fr. suppositions] alone was sufficient to make good the reason.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. vi. iii. 105 The Copernican supposition of the Earths Motion.
1733 Dugdale & P. Shaw tr. B. Varenius et al. Compl. Syst. Gen. Geogr. I. vi. 77 Both Astronomy and Geography require this Supposition.
1842 W. Baly tr. J. Müller Elem. Physiol. II. iv. 942 How we can find our way through the numerous windings of the streets, and at the same time follow an internal train of thought..may..be very well explained, on the supposition of the attention being diverted at short intervals alternately from the one theme to the other.
1887 Church Q. Rev. July 268 Evil..no more requires the supposition of an evil source to account for it than the failure of the arrow to hit the mark requires to be accounted for by an additional marksman aiming it to the place where it has fallen.
1912 J. S. McIntosh Study Augustine's Versions of Genesis iv. 122 As this construction is entirely foreign to Latin idiom, it would seem that the presence of it in this one passage would be best accounted for by the supposition of an underlying Gk. text different from the one that has come down to us.
1966 V. Van Dyke in J. C. Charlesworth Design for Polit. Sci. (1970) 5 My supposition is that we have tacitly added a rule to the one regarding controversy: that where we have conceded a subject to another discipline because it is generally nonpolitical, we tend to maintain the division of labor even when the subject enters the political arena.
2005 G. Rosen & J. P. Burgess in S. Shapiro Oxf. Handbk. Philos. Math. & Logic xvi. 527 Mathematicians..never concern themselves with such..questions as which set (if any) is identical with, say, the number 2. Such an attitude is readily intelligible on the supposition that the mathematician regards number theory and set theory only as useful fictions.
3.
a. Used vaguely: an idea, a notion, a thought, a belief, a fancy; a suspicion; an expectation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > [noun]
thoughtOE
thingOE
conceita1393
imagea1393
concept1479
conception1526
suppositiona1529
idee1542
idea1585
conceivement1599
project1600
representationa1602
notion1607
phantasma1620
conceptus1643
species1644
notice1654
revolution1675
representamen1677
vorstellung1807
brain-stuff1855
ideation1876
think1886
artefact1923
construct1933
mind1966
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > [noun] > act of imagining
imagination1340
conceptiona1387
imaginingc1430
suppositiona1529
conceiving1559
picturing1562
conceiting1563
fancy1581
forgery1582
surmise1592
imagery1595
imaging1648
ideation1818
envisagement1877
visualizing1880
envisaging1883
visualization1883
envisioning1938
projecting1960
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [noun]
to-hopec888
weenOE
hopea1225
thoughta1350
opiniona1425
attentc1430
looking1440
presume?a1500
beliefa1522
expectation1527
expection1532
looking for1532
looking after?1537
expecting1568
imagination1582
expectance1593
suppose1596
expect1597
expectancy1609
apprehensiona1616
contemplationa1631
prospect1665
supposition1719
speculationa1797
augury1871
preperception1871
a1529 J. Skelton Speke Parrot in Certayne Bks. (?1545) sig. A.vv That supposicyon, that callyd is arte.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. O8v To torment your selfe by a needles supposition.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. ii. 50 Spread ore the siluer waues thy golden haires; And as a bud Ile take thee, and there lie: And in that glorious supposition thinke, He gaines by death, that hath such meanes to die. View more context for this quotation
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) ii. iv. 59 The Inquisition crusheth not only the beginnings, but the smallest suppositions in being contrarily affected.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 21 I meditated nothing but my Escape;..but found no Way that had the least Probability in it: Nothing presented to make the Supposition of it rational.
1784 J. Reynolds Disc. Royal Acad. (1876) xii. 39 They proceed upon a false supposition of life.
1819 Ld. Byron Let. 31 Dec. in R. Milbanke Astarte (1921) xi. 299 You will find..nothing to lead you to the most remote supposition that we could ever have been, or be happy together.
1861 Sunday at Home 16 May 314/2 Not the slightest supposition, however, occurred to our mind that their mutual relation gradually was growing into something warmer than mere friendship.
1921 E. Davis Hist. N.Y. Times 1851–1921 i. i. 36 Burns had undoubtedly given his story to The Herald in the supposition that it would at once be communicated to all the other papers.
2008 M. Cullin Post-war Dream (2009) 133 The vague supposition lurking somewhere deep in his mind was that she would be able to take care of herself, just like her widowed mother did.
b. An idea or notion sufficiently probable to be practically assumed as true, or to be at least admitted as possibly true, on account of consistency with known facts; a hypothetical inference; an uncertain belief, sometimes a mistaken one. Also: the action of making such an inference; the holding such a belief. †in supposition: uncertain, doubtful (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > [noun]
weeningc900
wenc1000
susposea1325
deeming1340
supposala1425
conjecturec1460
supposing1530
supposition1565
suppose1582
surmise1593
surmisal1641
putation1649
expectation1793
the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > [noun] > instance
suspicionc1460
supposal1511
supposition1565
suppose1573
surmise1590
supposure1613
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > [adjective] > in a state of uncertainty
in non-certainc1390
in supposition1565
at uncertainty1668
whether for a penny1672
in the air1752
at whethers1828
1565 T. Stapleton Disc. Doctr. Protestants in tr. F. Staphylus Apologie f. 171 You suppose they prayed only for such as were already in heauen, and herupon you make your distinctions. But as your supposition is a point of sophistry.., so are your imagined distinctions vaine and foolish.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. iii. 17 My meaning in saying hee is a good man, is..that hee is sufficient, yet his meanes are in supposition . View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 240 The supposition of the ladies death, Will quench the wonder of her infamie. View more context for this quotation
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. ii. 611 A supposition, that there might be some Ilands or Parts of the Continent in times past, which is now swallowed by the mercilesse Ocean.
1667 S. Pepys Diary 12 July (1974) VIII. 331 It is only said to be his [handwriting] by supposition.
1747 B. Franklin Plain Truth (new ed.) 9 These are not mere Suppositions, for I have heard some talk in this strange Manner.
1790 W. Paley Horæ Paulinæ xi, in Wks. (1825) III. 215 That supposition is inconsistent with the terms and tenor of the epistle.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic ii. 33 I..was driven to the extreme supposition that a crystallization was taking place in..the aqueous humour of the eye.
1861 F. A. Paley Æschylus' Choephori (ed. 2) 659 (note) Klausen thinks that Clytemnestra must have overheard the remarks of Orestes..but the supposition is hardly necessary.
1936 Man 36 59/2 Philological research has given rise to the supposition that the Mundaris, whose home is said to have been near Calcutta, must have penetrated the frontiers of Tibet about 2000 b.c.
1968 J. J. Scarisbrick Henry VIII vii. 188 Her statement was forcefully echoed by Doña Elvira, her chief attendant, who descended like an avenging angel upon an idle-tongued chaplain who, guided by supposition merely, had expressed an opposite opinion.
2009 New Yorker 3 Aug. 31/1 The first consumers of bathing costumes may have been the Greeks, according to bikini scholars, who base their suppositions on illustrations, found on Minoan cave walls from 1600 B.C., of female gymnasts in two-piecers.
II. Senses involving deception. Cf. suppose v. II.
4. † b. A later insertion into a text, an interpolation, a spurious passage; a spurious writing, a forgery. Also: insertion of something not genuine into a writing. Obsolete.
a. Fraudulent substitution of another thing or person for the genuine one; deceptive introduction of a thing or person. Cf. supposititious adj. 1, suppositious adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > [noun] > fraudulent
supposition1569
switch1935
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > [noun] > fraudulent substitution
supposition1569
bait and switch1975
1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 11 b The deceits of Rhea, and the supposition of the stone [L. lapidis suppositiones].
1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. F. Biondi Hist. Civil Warres Eng. I. v. 111 If she had a hand in the false supposition of an Edward Plantagenet.
1715 L. Theobald in tr. Aristophanes Plutus iii. i. 33 (note) The Story is very well known of the Serpent being carried to Rome, under the Supposition of the real Æsculapius.
1797 Monthly Mag. 3 536 Nothing was so common among the Athenian women as the supposition of children.
1823 Edinb. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 19 451 The crime..is equivalent to concealment of pregnancy on the British statute; and, in common with substitution and supposition of an infant, is punished with imprisonment.
1854 P. M. de Colquhoun Summ. Rom. Civil Law III. vi. v. 359 That there be sufficient light..and that generally, darkness favorable to the supposition of a child be avoided.
1966 L. Strauss Socrates & Aristophanes iii. vii. 220 By presenting the women's ways in the theater, he has made it impossible or very difficult for the women to continue in these ways (for instance, in adultery and the supposition of infants).
2001 P. Senaeve in H. Bocken & W. de Bondt Introd. Belgian Law vi. 135 Even if one child is exchanged for another, and also in the case of supposition of a child with a mother who did not give birth, the maternal affiliation..is afterwards not subject to contestation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > faking of documents > [noun] > instance of
apocryphc1449
supposition1581
counterfeit1613
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > forgery, falsification > faking of documents > [noun] > instance of > addition to text
adinvention1483
supposition1581
1581 W. Fulke Reioynder Bristows Replie 207 The Booke De duplici Martyrio is thought to be supposition, coyned by Erasmus.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1028 In what verses he useth so to doe, be sure they were of speciall marke, or els suppositions and suspected to be none of his making.
1608 Bp. J. Hall Epist. II. iv. viii All cary in them manifest brands of falshood and supposition.
1662 J. Owen Disc. Liturgies v. 28 Those Treatises are justly suspected to be suppositions.
1723 B. Hoadly Remarks Bishop of Rochester's Speech vi. 17/1 This Forgery is an impossible Supposition, the mere Invention of One who had nothing else to say.
III. Other uses.† 5. Medicine. An administration of a suppository. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > [noun] > purging > application of suppository
supposition1642
1642 J. Steer tr. Fabricius Exper. Chyrurg. vi. 23 The belly being first emptied by a supposition [L. suppositorij beneficio].
6. Music (now historical). (a) The introduction of passing notes foreign to the harmony (called discords by supposition); (b) the introduction of extra notes below the root of the chord of the seventh to create chords of the ninth, eleventh and thirteenth (called chords by supposition); †(c) a bar common to two overlapping sections of rhythm, being the last bar of one and also the first of the other (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > [noun] > movement of parts > by passing note
transition1659
supposition1728
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > chord > [noun] > arrangement of notes > specific
inversion1664
supposition1796
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > duration of notes > proportion of notes or rhythm > [noun] > overlapping rhythms
supposition1838
1721 A. Malcolm Treat. Musick xiii. 434 Discords may transiently pass there without any Offence to the Ear: This the French call Supposition, because the transient Discord supposes a Concord immediately to follow it.]
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) There are several Kinds of Supposition: The first is, when the Parts proceed gradually from Concord to Discord; and Discord to Concord; the intervening Discord serving only as a Transition to the following Concord.
1730 Short Treat. Harmony v. 29 There is a way in Division of making use of Discords, upon the Second accented Part of the Bar, which way is called Supposition.
1737 tr. J.-P. Rameau Treat. Music xxx. 103 Minor Discords by Supposition may be prepared by another common Discord, such as the Seventh.
1796 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 125/1 at Resolution In chords by supposition, one single chord often produces two dissonances; as the seventh and ninth, the ninth and fourth, &c.
1838 G. F. Graham tr. Reicha in Theory & Pract. Mus. Comp. 19/2 The supposition is a measure which..counts as two; 1. as final measure of the first rhythm; and, 2. as initial measure of the following rhythm.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. V. 752 Discords..may be..used without..regular preparation and resolution, though they are then no longer considered in the light of discords but passing or transient notes. [margin] Discords by supposition.
1891 F. R. Ritter tr. J. C. Lobe Catech. Composition xxviii. 78 This supposition of tones is not always to be avoided, is it; in all two-tone chords, for instance?
1974 Jrnl. Musical Theory 18 276 The perfect triad..can be either major or minor, and the dissonant seventh chord..is derived from the triad by the addition of a major or minor third. All other chords are shown to be derived..by inversion or by supposition.
1995 W. Renwick Analyzing Fugue iii. 82 (caption) Basses of chords by supposition.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1398