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Surmise vs Assumption - What's the difference?

surmise | assumption |

As nouns the difference between surmise and assumption

is that surmise is thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess while assumption is the act of assuming, or taking to or upon one's self; the act of taking up or adopting.

As a verb surmise

is to conjecture, to opine or to posit with contestable premises.

surmise

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
  • surmises of jealousy or of envy
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • No man ought to be charged with principles he actually disowns, unless his practices contradict his profession; not upon small surmises .
  • * 1919 ,
  • The meeting had been devoid of incident. No word had been said to give me anything to think about, and any surmises I might make were unwarranted. I was intrigued.
  • Reflection; thought; posit.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Verb

    (surmis)
  • To conjecture, to opine or to posit with contestable premises.
  • assumption

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of assuming]], or taking to or upon one's self; the act of [[take up, taking up or adopting.
  • His assumption of secretarial duties was timely.
  • The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; a supposition; an unwarrantable claim.
  • Their assumption of his guilt disqualified them from jury duty.
  • The thing supposed; a postulate, or proposition assumed; a supposition.
  • * {{quote-journal, year=1976, author=, title=The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Volume 10 citation
  • , passage=No doubt a finite evaluative argument must make some unargued evaluative assumptions, just as finite factual arguments must make some unargued factual assumptions.}}
  • (logic) The minor or second proposition in a categorical syllogism.
  • The taking of a person up into heaven.
  • A festival in honor of the ascent of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
  • (rhetoric) Assumptio.
  • Synonyms

    * See also