English
assume
Assume comes from Latin assūmō ‘accept, take’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁em-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁em-‘to take’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*emō‘to take’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsūmō‘take up’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEassūmō‘accept’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602assume
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁em-‘to take’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*emō‘to take’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsūmō‘take up’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEassūmō‘accept’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602assume
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Assume a virtue, if you have it not.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- ‘to take’
exempt, pomade, pommel, 57 more
through Proto-Italic *emō ‘to take’
premium, redemption, ransom, exemption, redeem, presume, preemption, emptor, 48 more
through Latin sūmō ‘take up, assume’
consumer, resume, consume, sumptuous, résumé, consumable, overconsumption, 34 more
Today it means
verb To authenticate by means of belief; to surmise; to suppose to be true, especially without proof.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- / assume