| Premise 1. (n.) Something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition. 2. (n.) Either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn. 3. (n.) Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted. 4. (n.) A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts; as, to lease premises; to trespass on another's premises. 5. (n.) To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously. 6. (n.) To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings. 7. (v. i.) To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise. Thesaurus Entries a priori principle, affirmation, ancestor, antecedent, apriorism, argue, assert, assertion, assume, assumed position, assumption, avant-propos, axiom, basis, basis for belief, body of evidence, breakthrough, categorical proposition, chain of evidence, clue, conjecture, data, datum, documentation, evidence, exhibit, exordium, fact, facts, first principles, forerunner, foreword, foundation, front matter, frontispiece, ground, grounds, grounds for belief, guesswork, hypothecate, hypothesis, hypothesis ad hoc, hypothesize, indication, inference, innovation, introduce, introduction, item of evidence, leap, lemma, major premise, manifestation, mark, material grounds, minor premise, muniments, mute witness, overture, philosopheme, philosophical proposition, piece of evidence, posit, position, postulate, postulation, postulatum, preamble, precedent, precursor, predicate, preface, prefix, prefixture, preliminary, prelude, premises, premiss, presume, presumption, presupposal, presuppose, presupposition, proem, prolegomena, prolegomenon, prolepsis, prologize, prologue, proof, proposal, propose, proposition, propositional function, protasis, put forth, reason to believe, relevant fact, set forth, set of postulates, sign, statement, sumption, supposal, suppose, supposing, supposition, surmise, symptom, theorem, theorize, thesis, token, truth table, truth-function, truth-value, verse, voluntary, working hypothesis |