| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| suppose |
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| SYLLABICATION: | sup·pose |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  s -p z |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: sup·posed, sup·pos·ing, sup·pos·es
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To assume to be true or real for the sake of argument or explanation: Suppose we win the lottery. 2a. To believe, especially on uncertain or tentative grounds: Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps. b. To consider to be probable or likely: I suppose it will rain. 3. To imply as an antecedent condition; presuppose: “Patience must suppose pain” (Samuel Johnson). 4. To consider as a suggestion: Suppose we dine together. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To imagine; conjecture. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English supposen, from Old French supposer, alteration (influenced by poser, to place) of Medieval Latin suppnere, from Latin, to put under : sub-, sub- + pnere, to place; see apo- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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