POSTULATE

I. transitive verb (-lated; -lating) see: pray Date: 1593 demand , claim , 2. to assume or claim as true, existent, or necessary ; depend upon or start from the ~ of, to assume as a ~ or axiom (as in logic or mathematics), postulation noun postulational adjective II. noun Etymology: Medieval Latin postulatum, from neuter of postulatus, past participle of postulare to assume, from Latin, to demand Date: 1646 a hypothesis advanced as an essential presupposition, condition, or premise of a train of reasoning, axiom 3