premise

Meanings

1. A statement accepted as true as the starting point of an argument.
2. The main idea behind a story or a plan.

Example sentences

• "Your argument rests on a false premise."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "The film has an interesting premise."

  Level C1, Meaning 2

• "We worked on the premise that everyone would help."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "The basic premise of the course is that practice matters."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• premises : The plural premises means a building and its grounds, as in "no smoking on the premises". A premise, singular, is an idea in an argument.

Word family and forms

Forms: premises

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "premise".

• the main premise
• a false premise
• on the premise that
• basic premise
• accept the premise
• the premise of the film

Origin

Premise comes through Old French from Medieval Latin praemissa, which meant set before. It goes back to the Latin verb praemittere, to send or put before, because a premise is placed first, before the conclusion.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

"On the premise that" is a common phrase introducing an assumption behind an argument.

How to remember it

Premise has "pre", meaning before: the premise comes before the conclusion.

Test yourself

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