Suppose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Supposed; p. pr. & vb. n. Supposing.]
Etymology: [F. supposer; pref. sub- under + poser to place; -- corresponding in meaning to L. supponere, suppositum, to put under, to substitute, falsify, counterfeit. See Pose.]
1. To represent to one's self, or state to another, not as true or real, but as if so, and with a view to some consequence or application which the reality would involve or admit of; to imagine or admit to exist, for the sake of argument or illustration; to assume to be true; as, let us suppose the earth to be the center of the system, what would be the result Suppose they take offence without a cause. Shak. When we have as great assurance that a thing is, as we could possibly, supposing it were, we ought not to make any doubt of its existence. Tillotson.
2. To imagine; to believe; to receive as true. How easy is a bush supposed a bear! Shak. Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead. 2 Sam. xiii. 32.
3. To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature; as, purpose supposes foresight. One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected. Female Quixote.
4. To put by fraud in the place of another. [Obs.]
1 more senses
Syn. -- To imagine; believe; conclude; judge; consider; view; regard; conjecture; assume.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Suppose, v. i.
To make supposition; to think; to be of opinion. Acts ii. 15.
Suppose, n.
Supposition. [Obs.] Shak. "A base suppose that he is honest." Dryden.
Shades of meaning
To suppose is temporarily to assume a thing as true, either with the expectation of finding it so or for the purpose of ascertaining what would follow if it were so. To suppose is also to think a thing to be true while aware or conceding that the belief does not rest upon any sure ground, and may not accord with fact; or yet again, to suppose is to imply as true or involved as a necessary inference; as, design supposes the existence of a designer. To conjecture is to put together the nearest available materials for a provisional opinion, always with some expectation of finding the facts to be as conjectured. To imagine is to form a mental image of something as existing, tho its actual existence may be unknown, or even impossible. To think, in this application, is to hold as the result of thought what is admitted not to be matter of exact or certain knowledge; as, I do not know, but I think this to be the fact: a more conclusive statement than would be made by the use of conjecture or suppose. Compare doubt; hypothesis.