noun

• 1A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.

  ‘they made certain assumptions about the market’

  More example sentences

  • ‘we're working on the assumption that the time of death was after midnight’
  • ‘Unless all of these assumptions are true, mass surveillance would be of very little help.’
  • ‘These rules are complicated and couples in divorce proceedings should make no assumptions.’
  • ‘Perhaps you should question your own assumptions about that before you go poking about in mine.’
  • ‘It is a fair question, but we should not overlook the assumptions that underlie it.’
  • ‘It is high time that our cultural assumptions caught up with that reality.’
  • ‘Wrong assumptions about an employee's commitment to work frequently lead to problems.’
  • ‘Their success immediately exposed the flawed assumptions of previous generations.’
  • ‘What you have to ask is: how realistic are the assumptions these companies are working with?’
  • ‘In other words, I disagree with just about all the assumptions on which this proposal is based.’
  • ‘There were so many gross assumptions in her letter that it is hard to know where to start.’
  • ‘That was the theory but, like so many assumptions about war, it does not stand up in practice.’
  • ‘Every now and again you read a book that shatters assumptions you have held for a long time.’
  • ‘Taste is based upon a certain set of assumptions about what is good or bad in the world.’
  • ‘Scientists reconsidered earlier assumptions about the function of sex hormones as well.’
  • ‘We need to clarify the assumptions inherent in this argument before we can determine its validity.’
  • ‘Many of the key assumptions used as the basis for safety claims have been overturned.’
  • ‘And everything that happened in our part of the world reinforced this assumption.’
  • ‘There is a frequent and incorrect assumption that ecological buildings have to be far more expensive.’
  • ‘Yet another unstated assumption is that the only way to prevent aircraft crashing into populated areas is by regulation.’
  • ‘Working on this assumption, we continued our fieldwork along the outskirts of Starosel.’
  • ‘The assumption is, presumably, that advertising will be used to sell these cars.’

  Synonyms

  supposition, presupposition, presumption, premise, belief, expectation, conjecture, speculation, surmise, guess, theory, hypothesis, postulation, conclusion, deduction, inference, thought, suspicion, notion, impression, fancy

  View synonyms

• 2mass noun The action of taking on power or responsibility.

  ‘the assumption of an active role in regional settlements’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The judiciary was badly split by the military's May 29 assumption of executive power.’
  • ‘Others welcomed Hitler's assumption of power, seeing in it a chance to advance their own careers.’
  • ‘There are a number of references in the speeches in this case to voluntary assumption of responsibility.’
  • ‘Surrender is not the same as shirking one's responsibilities or assumption of passivity.’
  • ‘This assumption of responsibility gave rise to a relationship of trust and confidence between these parties.’
  • ‘The assumption of direct power by the crown was not wholly welcomed by settlers.’
  • ‘Upon Yushchenko's assumption of the presidency he immediately arranged to visit Moscow.’
  • ‘We are deeply concerned by the King's assumption of power on 1 March, which will increase the risk of instability in the country and undermine the institutions of democracy and constitutional monarchy.’
  • ‘Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power.’

  Synonyms

  acceptance, shouldering, handling, managing, tackling, taking on

  seizure, seizing, taking, taking over, taking away, appropriation, appropriating, commandeering, expropriation, expropriating, confiscation, confiscating, requisition, requisitioning, hijack, hijacking, wresting, usurping, pre-empting, arrogation, claiming

  View synonyms

• 3

  (also Assumption)

  The reception of the Virgin Mary bodily into heaven. This was formally declared a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1950.

  ‘His Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The Virgin birth, the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Resurrection of Jesus, the survival of our own souls after death: these are all claims of a clearly scientific nature.’
  • ‘Pope Pius XII infallibly proclaimed the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 1 November 1950.’
  • ‘Finally, in the seventh, A Prayer for my Daughter, the author instructs his child not to believe in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.’
  • ‘Cornwell vividly describes the local worship - for instance, following an open coffin containing an effigy of the dead Virgin before her Assumption into heaven.’
  • ‘The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are rooted in the patristic axiom that Mary was the worthy Mother of God, a worthy tabernacle of the Most High.’
  • ‘The church has proclaimed as infallible two dogmas in relation to Mary - the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption.’
  • ‘On August 15, we will celebrate the feast of Mary's Assumption into heaven.’

  1. 3.1The feast in honour of the Assumption, celebrated on 15 August.
     ‘The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated with prayers at the Marian Shrine in the village last Sunday after 10.00 am mass.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Since the opening ceremonies on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, there has been a steady flow of people, both young and old, arriving in Ladywell to pray at the Shrine and sip water from the Holy Well.’
     • ‘The date was August 15, 1975, the Feast of the Assumption.’
     • ‘The feast celebrated in the Byzantine calendar as the Dormition on 15 August became the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin in the west.’
     • ‘Liechtenstein´s national day is celebrated on Assumption Day.’
     • ‘I haven't been feeling well since we got back from our trip so Rocky and I went to the Vigil Mass for the Assumption.’
     • ‘Here is the audio sermon for the Assumption.’
     • ‘It does not surprise me in the least that he was present at the traditional Mass for the Assumption.’

• 4archaic mass noun Arrogance or presumption.