释义 |
as·sump·tion \əˈsəm (p)shən\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin assumption-, assumptio, from Latin, reception, taking up, adoption, from assumptus (past participle of assumere to take up) + -ion-, -io -ion 1. usually capitalized a. : the bodily taking up a person into heaven < the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary > b. : the church feast commemorating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary that is observed on August 15 — compare falling asleep 2. archaic : the taking into association or union : adoption, incorporation 3. a. : the act of taking to or upon oneself an attribute, form, duty or office < his meek assumption of innocence > < a delay in the assumption of his new position > b. : the act of laying claim to or taking possession of : appropriation, usurpation < the Nazi assumption of power in 1934 > 4. : unwarranted pretentiousness : arrogance < his usual air of haughty assumption — Sir Walter Scott > 5. a. : the act of taking for granted or supposing that a thing is true < the structural characteristics of the order and the fallacies in assumption — R.E.Montgomery > b. : something that is taken for granted : supposition < it was, like all societies, built on certain assumptions — M.C.Hollis > 6. : the taking over of debts or obligations by another; specifically : the adoption by the federal government of the states' debts incurred during the American Revolution 7. a. : the proposition, axiom, postulate, or notion assumed b. : the minor or second premise in a categorical syllogism |