Other forms: presupposes, presupposed, presupposing
To presuppose is to take something as given before the argument starts. The question presupposes guilt, presuppose knowledge, presupposes a great deal.
It is the standard word for spotting an unstated assumption, and questions that presuppose something are the oldest trick in interrogation. In logic a presupposition survives even when the sentence is negated.
1verbpresupposeTo take something as given before the argument starts.
“Your question presupposes that I was at the party, but I wasn't.”
presuppose is an assuming.
Latin praesupponere is prae, before, plus supponere, to put under.
Latin
praesuppōnō
Middle French
presupposer
English, today
presuppose
From Middle French presupposer, from Latin praesuppōnō.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA