premise
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: prĕm'ĭs
rhymes: -ɛmɪs
ipa: /ˈpɹɛm.ɪs/
ipa: /ˈpɹem.ɪs/
ipa: /ˈpɹem.əs/
note: spelling pronunciation
enpr: prĭ'mīz
note: Indic
ipa: /prɪˈmajz/
ipa: /pɹɪˈmaɪz/
Forms: form: premises
form: premiss
form: præmise
form: præmiss
Etymology: From Middle English premise, premisse, from Old French premisse, from Medieval Latin premissa (“set before”) (premissa propositio (“the proposition set before”)), feminine past participle of Latin praemittere (“to send or put before”), from prae- (“before”) + mittere (“to send”).
Sense 4, a piece of real estate arose from the misinterpretation of the word by property owners while reading title deeds where the word was used with the legal sense.
Senses: examples: text: The premises observed,
Thy will by my performance shall be served.
ref: c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
glosses: A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
examples: text: While the premises stand firm, 'tis impossible to shake the conclusion.
ref: 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC:
topics: human-sciences
logic
mathematics
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Any of the first propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is deduced.
topics: law
glosses: Matters previously stated or set forth; especially, 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.
examples: text: trespass on another’s premises
text: On the premises is a beautiful lawn, well stocked with flowering shrubs; hard and soft water.
ref: 1899 September 27, The Daily Review (Peterborough, Ont., Canada), volume 37, number 72, page 1a:
text: Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts.
examples: text: In 1949, the simple premise of discovering ordinary people who have hidden, extraordinary talents came to prominence in the UK with Opportunity Knocks, which started out as a nationwide touring radio show, before moving onto TV in 1956.
ref: 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC:
topics: authorship
broadcasting
communications
film
journalism
literature
media
publishing
television
writing
glosses: The fundamental concept that drives the plot of a film or other story.
Coordinate terms: conclusion
Derived terms: off-premise
on-premise
major premise
minor premise
Related terms: mission