əˈsəm (p)shən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin assumption-, assumptio, from Latin, reception, taking up, adoption, from assumptus (past participle of assumere to take up) + -ion-, -io -ion
1. usually capitalized
a. : the bodily taking up a person into heaven
the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
b. : the church feast commemorating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary that is observed on August 15 — compare falling asleep
2. archaic : the taking into association or union : adoption , incorporation
3.
a. : the act of taking to or upon oneself an attribute, form, duty or office
his meek assumption of innocence
a delay in the assumption of his new position
b. : the act of laying claim to or taking possession of : appropriation , usurpation
the Nazi assumption of power in 1934
4. : unwarranted pretentiousness : arrogance
his usual air of haughty assumption — Sir Walter Scott
5.
a. : the act of taking for granted or supposing that a thing is true
the structural characteristics of the order and the fallacies in assumption — R.E.Montgomery
b. : something that is taken for granted : supposition
it was, like all societies, built on certain assumptions — M.C.Hollis
6. : the taking over of debts or obligations by another ; specifically : the adoption by the federal government of the states' debts incurred during the American Revolution
7.
a. : the proposition, axiom, postulate, or notion assumed
b. : the minor or second premise in a categorical syllogism