I. ˈpäschəˌlāt, usu -ād.+V transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Medieval Latin postulatus, past participle of postulare, from Latin, to ask for, demand, request, from (assumed) posctus, past participle of poscere to ask for urgently, beg, demand; akin to Old High German forsca question, Old Irish arco I request, Sanskrit pṛcchā question, inquiry, Latin prex prayer, request — more at prayer
1. : to request (a higher ecclesiastical authority) to sanction the promotion of a person who is canonically disqualified : nominate (a person) subject to the sanction of a higher authority
2.
[Latin postulatus, past participle of postulare ]
: demand , claim
postulated … supremacy over this nation — William Tooke
3. : to assume or claim as true, existent, or necessary
postulates that energy is expended within the plant — P.R.White
: depend upon or start from the postulate of
postulates complete lack of respect for the … people — G.W.Johnson
4. : to assume as a postulate or axiom (as in logic or mathematics)
Synonyms: see presuppose
II. -_lə̇t, -ˌlāt, usu -d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: in sense 1, from Latin postulatum, from neuter of postulatus, past participle of postulare; in other senses, from Medieval Latin postulatum, from Latin
1. archaic : demand , stipulation
2. : a proposition advanced with the claim that it be taken for granted or as axiomatic : an essential presupposition, condition, or premise (as for a train of reasoning, a philosophic system, or a school of thought) : an underlying hypothesis or assumption
both science and religion have their postulates
life is built upon certain postulates — Bertrand Russell
three postulates of present-day income accounting — Harvard Law Review
3. : a statement (as in logic or mathematics) that is assumed and therefore requires no proof of its validity : axiom
the parallel postulate