- surmise
- {{11}}surmise (n.) early 15c., legal, "a charge, a formal accusation;" see SURMISE (Cf. surmise) (v.). Meaning "inference, guess" is first found in English 1580s.
Etymology dictionary. 2014.
surmise
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Surmise — Sur*mise , n. [OF. surmise accusation, fr. surmettre, p. p. surmis, to impose, accuse; sur (see {Sur }) + mettre to put, set, L. mittere to send. See {Mission}.] 1. A thought, imagination, or conjecture, which is based upon feeble or scanty… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
surmise — vb *conjecture, guess Analogous words: *infer, gather, judge, deduce, conclude: *think, conceive, fancy, imagine: *consider, regard, deem surmise n conjecture, guess (see under CONJECTURE vb) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
surmise — [n] guess, conclusion assumption, attempt, conjecture, deduction, guesstimate*, guesswork, hunch, hypothesis, idea, inference, notion, opinion, possibility, presumption, sneaking suspicion*, speculation, supposition, suspicion, theory, thought;… … New thesaurus
surmise — [sər mīz′; ] for n., also [ sʉr′mīz΄] n. [ME surmyse < OFr surmise, accusation, fem. of surmis, pp. of surmettre, lit., to put upon, hence to accuse < sur (see SUR 1) + mettre, to put < L mittere, to send (see MISSION)] 1. an idea or… … English World dictionary
Surmise — Sur*mise , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Surmised}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Surmising}.] To imagine without certain knowledge; to infer on slight grounds; to suppose, conjecture, or suspect; to guess. [1913 Webster] It wafted nearer yet, and then she knew That… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
surmise — I verb apprehend, assume, augurari, be of the opinion, believe, conceive, conclude, conjecture, count, deduce, deem, divine, esteem, fancy, feel, gather, guess, have an idea, hazard a guess, hypothesize, imagine, infer, judge, opine, posit,… … Law dictionary
surmise — meaning ‘to infer doubtfully’ and (as a noun) ‘a conjecture or suspicion’, is spelt ise, not ize. See ize, ise … Modern English usage
surmise — ► VERB ▪ suppose without having evidence. ► NOUN ▪ a supposition or guess. ORIGIN originally in the sense «allege formally»: from Old French, accused , from Latin supermittere put in afterwards … English terms dictionary
surmise — [[t]sə(r)ma͟ɪz[/t]] surmises, surmising, surmised 1) VERB If you surmise that something is true, you guess it from the available evidence, although you do not know for certain. [FORMAL] [V wh] There s so little to go on, we can only surmise what… … English dictionary
surmise — UK [sə(r)ˈmaɪz] / US [sərˈmaɪz] verb [transitive] Word forms surmise : present tense I/you/we/they surmise he/she/it surmises present participle surmising past tense surmised past participle surmised formal to guess that something is true, when… … English dictionary
surmise — I n. (formal) conjecture a surmise that + clause (she expressed a surmise that the situation would improve) II v. (L) I surmised that the situation would improve * * * [sə maɪz] (L) I surmised that the situation would improve (formal) [… … Combinatory dictionary
