postulate

1 of 2

verb

pos·​tu·​late ˈpäs-chə-ˌlāt How to pronounce postulate (audio)
postulated; postulating

transitive verb

1
2
a
: to assume or claim as true, existent, or necessary : depend upon or start from the postulate of
b
: to assume as a postulate or axiom (as in logic or mathematics)
postulation noun
postulational adjective

postulate

2 of 2

noun

pos·​tu·​late ˈpäs-chə-lət How to pronounce postulate (audio)
-ˌlāt
1
: a hypothesis advanced as an essential presupposition, condition, or premise of a train of reasoning
2

Did you know?

When you postulate an idea or theory you suggest that it is true especially for the purposes of an argument or discussion. The word is mostly at home in formal and academic contexts, but don’t let that stop you from postulating, for example, that takeout for dinner makes sense given the cook’s delayed return home from work. The word postulate also functions as a noun referring to something that’s been postulated, as in “a theory based on disputed postulates.” Both verb and noun have their source in Latin postulare, meaning "to assume."

Examples of postulate in a Sentence

Verb Scientists have postulated the existence of water on the planet. postulates that all people are born with certain rights that can never be taken away from them Noun Einstein's theory of relativity was deduced from two postulates. one of the postulates that the true agnostic rejects is the assumption that it is even possible for us to know whether God exists
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Both researchers postulate that the tablets were inscribed shortly after being cut from the tree. Margherita Bassi, Discover Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024 Academic researchers have postulated that Oprah’s blessing was good for a million Obama votes in 2008; then again, in 2018 Ms. Swift endorsed a Democrat in a Tennessee Senate race who lost handily. James Poniewozik, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2024 Some have even postulated that Taylor Swift wrote the novel, though Vaughn has since shut down that rumor. Ellise Shafer, Variety, 24 Jan. 2024 There’s also string theory, which describes the universe as made of almost unimaginably small vibrating strings and, in current versions, postulates the existence of at least 10 dimensions. Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2023 Finance experts and tabloids postulate that the location of the former is related to the tax-avoidance benefits offered by the 2003 New Jersey Cemetery Act. Robert Sullivan, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023 Until now, only four sites older than 30,000 years have been postulated, all from western Europe, including a Neanderthal site. Charles Helm, Discover Magazine, 13 Sep. 2023 Wiener had first postulated that biological signals could be used to control a prosthesis in the early 1950s, but research in this area did not flourish in the United States. IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2023 Axioms, postulates, theorems, and proofs bored me into senselessness. Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022
Noun
Also called Euclid’s fifth postulate, this rule tells us the following: Suppose you’re given a line. Rachel Crowell, Scientific American, 6 Dec. 2023 In the 1800s, Bertrand’s postulate showed that for any n>3, there is always a prime number between n and 2n. Quanta Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023 Mathematicians wondered if some version of Bertrand’s postulate was true for Carmichael numbers. Quanta Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023 And therefore, the parallel postulate’s not provable from the other axioms. Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 19 Apr. 2023 That respect is a core postulate of most Americans’ vision of how their government should function and of their expectation that justices try in good faith to meet that standard. Simon Lazarus, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2022 Modern philosophers such as Nick Bostrom postulate that our cosmos is probably a simulation, a virtual reality created by the alien equivalent of a bored teenage hacker. John Horgan, Scientific American, 14 June 2022 Taleb goes a step further, offering a mathematical postulate. Steven Zeitchik, Washington Post, 3 June 2022 That’s the main postulate of the supremely interesting and information-filled 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER), released earlier this week by Startup Genome with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). Dane Stangler, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'postulate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Latin postulatus, past participle of postulare; akin to Latin poscere to ask, Old High German forscōn to search, Sanskrit pṛcchati he asks — more at pray

Noun

Medieval Latin postulatum, from neuter of postulatus, past participle of postulare to assume, from Latin, to demand

First Known Use

Verb

1605, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of postulate was in 1590

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Dictionary Entries Near postulate

Cite this Entry

“Postulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postulate. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

postulate

1 of 2 verb
pos·​tu·​late ˈpäs-chə-ˌlāt How to pronounce postulate (audio)
postulated; postulating
: to claim as true : assume as a postulate
postulates that all people are created equal

postulate

2 of 2 noun
pos·​tu·​late ˈpäs-chə-lət How to pronounce postulate (audio)
-ˌlāt
: a statement or claim assumed to be true especially as the basis of a process of reasoning

Medical Definition

postulate

noun
pos·​tu·​late ˈpäs-chə-lət, -ˌlāt How to pronounce postulate (audio)
: a hypothesis advanced as an essential presupposition, condition, or premise of a train of reasoning see koch's postulates

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