ASSUME • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Assume

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/əsˈum/ Listen

verb

Assume v. t. (past & past part. assumed; pres. part. assuming)

To take to or upon one's self; to take formally and demonstratively; sometimes, to appropriate or take unjustly. "Trembling they stand while Jove assumes the throne." "The god assumed his native form again."

To take for granted, or without proof; to suppose as a fact; to suppose or take arbitrarily or tentatively. "The consequences of assumed principles."

To pretend to possess; to take in appearance. "Ambition assuming the mask of religion." "Assume a virtue, if you have it not."

To receive or adopt. "The sixth was a young knight of lesser renown and lower rank, assumed into that honorable company."

Synonyms: To arrogate; usurp; appropriate.

Assume v. i.

To be arrogant or pretentious; to claim more than is due.

(Law) To undertake, as by a promise.

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Etymology of 'Assume'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Assume" Quotes from Famous Books

... morning entreated for a little refreshment that he might be able to fight the better; and he quickly returned to the struggle. In those suburbs from which the workmen had not been able to break into the inner town, the insurrection threatened to assume the form of an attack on the employers. Machines were destroyed, and the houses of those employers who had lowered wages were ...

— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 17 • Charles Francis Horne

... associations. The number which may be duplicated by a membership in several, is probably balanced by the number in those which do not state the membership. This list includes only national associations and it is reasonable to assume that not more than one-half of the local societies are auxiliary to national bodies. This is known positively to be the case in the General Federation of Clubs, which includes less than half of those in the ...

— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various

... my disposition, so often and so frankly chronicled in these Confessions—the openness to be led whither any one might take the trouble to conduct me—the easy indifference to assume any character which might be pressed upon me, by chance, accident, or design, assisted by my share of three flasks of champagne, induced me first to listen —then to attend to—soon after to suggest—and finally, absolutely ...

— The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer, Complete • Charles James Lever (1806-1872)

... harshly that the Tsay-ee-kah, on the eve of the Congress, had no right to assume the functions of the Congress. The Tsay-ee-kah was practically dead, he said, and the resolution was simply a trick to ...

— Ten Days That Shook the World • John Reed

... The bourgeois, the mechanic, and the farmer, in so far as they have accumulated property, are exhibiting an extremely calculating individualism, of which the most dangerous symptom is the decline in the birth-rate. Frenchmen are becoming more than ever disinclined to take the risks and assume the expense of having more than one or two children. The recent outbreak of anti-militarism is probably merely another illustration of the increasing desire of the French bourgeois for personal security, and the opportunity for personal enjoyment. To ...

— The Promise Of American Life • Herbert David Croly

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