presupposedadj.
/ˌpriːsəˈpəʊzd/, U.S. /ˌprisəˈpoʊzd/ Supposed or assumed beforehand; implied as already existing or actual.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > supposition, surmise > taking for granted, presumption > [adjective]
presumptivec1443
presumed1545
presupposed1569
foretakena1586
supposed1587
postulated1646
receptary1646
postulate1664
posited1666
assumed1821
1569 J. Sanford tr. H. C. Agrippa Of Vanitie Artes & Sci. 21 He hath taken all his argumentes of presupposed matters.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 195/1 All which presupposed plagues concurring.
1610 E. Bunny Of Diuorce for Adulterie 163 The same reason that doth teach vs to forbeare that praesupposed liberty of ours vntil we haue such law established, should teach vs likewise, [etc.].
1643 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce 36 The efficacy of those [rites] depends upon the presupposed fitnes of either party.
1766 S. Cowper Treat. Parallactic Angle Pref. p. viii Desiring alone, that no presupposed Opinion of his insufficiency in these Matters may draw them off from entering into a fair Examination of their Pretensions.
1794 Home in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 85 14 It was a particular satisfaction to have an evidence who had no presupposed opinion, therefore impartial.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Paris Sketch Bk. II. 155 The dreadful weight of his presupposed guilt.
1895 T. Hardy Jude i. v. 33 To acquire languages..was a herculean performance which gradually led him on to a greater interest in it than in the presupposed patent process.
1936 Discovery Oct. 328/2 A pre-supposed ultra-microscopic virus.
1988 Trans. Philol. Soc. 86 54 Presupposed material..belongs to the already given material of a sentence.
2005 Guardian (Nexis) 28 Oct. 8 It's not a book that preaches from a presupposed political point of view.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1569