1. premise - Noun
2. premise - Verb
A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
Either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.
Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts; as, to lease premises; to trespass on another's premises.
To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.
To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings.
To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise.
Source: Webster's dictionaryI start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. Ralph Nader
Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. Kofi Annan
The moral cannibalism of all hedonist and altruist doctrines lies in the premise that the happiness of one man necessitates the injury of another. Ayn Rand
Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. Matt Taibbi
The first premise of all human history is, of course, the existence of living human individuals. Thus the first fact to be established is the physical organisation of these individuals and their consequent relation to the rest of nature. Karl Marx
For if we allow that human life is always guided by reason, we destroy the premise that life is possible at all. Leo Tolstoy