postulate

postulate
\ \ [16] The noun postulate originally meant ‘demand, request’. It was an anglicization of postulātum, a noun use of the past participle of postulāredemand, request’. It was used in the mid-17th century by mathematicians and logicians for a proposition that (because it was a simple or uncontentious one) ‘demanded’ to be taken for granted for the sake of further reasoning, and from this it spread to more general usage. The notion of ‘requesting’ is better preserved in postulant [18], from the present participle of the Latin verb.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Postulate — Pos tu*late, n. [L. postulatum a demand, request, prop. p. p. of postulare to demand, prob. a dim. of poscere to demand, prob. for porcscere; akin to G. forschen to search, investigate, Skr. prach to ask, and L. precari to pray: cf. F. postulat.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Postulate — Pos tu*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Postulated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Postulating}.] 1. To beg, or assume without proof; as, to postulate conclusions. [1913 Webster] 2. To take without express consent; to assume. [1913 Webster] The Byzantine emperors… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • postulate# — postulate vb *presuppose, presume, assume, premise, posit Analogous words: affirm, aver, predicate, *assert postulate n presupposition, presumption, assumption, premise, posit (see under PRESUPPOSE) Analogous words: *principle, axiom, theorem,… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Postulate — Pos tu*late, a. Postulated. [Obs.] Hudibras. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • postulate — I noun assertion, assumed truth, assumption, axiom, conjecture, foundation, hypothesis, premise, speculation, starting point, statement, suggestion, sumptio, supposal, supposition, surmise, theorem, thesis, truism II verb advance, assume,… …   Law dictionary

  • postulate — (v.) early 15c. (implied in postulation), nominate to a church office, from M.L. postulatus, pp. of postulare to ask, demand, probably formed from pp. of L. poscere ask urgently, demand, from *posk to , Italic inchoative of PIE root *prek to ask… …   Etymology dictionary

  • postulate — [v] suppose, figure advance, affirm, assert, assume, aver, estimate, guess, hypothesize, posit, predicate, premise, presuppose, propose, put forward, speculate, suppose, take for granted, theorize; concepts 12,26 Ant. calculate …   New thesaurus

  • postulate — ► VERB 1) suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning or belief. 2) nominate or elect to an ecclesiastical office subject to the sanction of a higher authority. ► NOUN ▪ a thing postulated. DERIVATIVES… …   English terms dictionary

  • postulate — [päs′chə lāt΄; ] for n., usually [, päs′chəlit] vt. postulated, postulating [< L postulatus, pp. of postulare, to demand < base of poscere, to demand < IE * pṛk̑skā, question < base * perk̑ , to ask > Ger frage, question] 1. to… …   English World dictionary

  • postulate — I n. (formal) a postulate that + clause (his postulate that the area was uninhabited proved to be true) II v. (formal) (L) they postulated that the collision had been caused by fog * * * [ pɒstjʊleɪt] (formal) (L) they postulated that the… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • postulate — I UK [ˈpɒstjʊleɪt] / US [ˈpɑstʃəˌleɪt] verb [transitive] Word forms postulate : present tense I/you/we/they postulate he/she/it postulates present participle postulating past tense postulated past participle postulated formal to claim or imagine… …   English dictionary

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