If you presume something, it means you act as though it's true before all the evidence is in. If you are presumed to be the fastest runner in the race, don't get too cocky — that word implies that you haven't actually raced yet.
Presume is often used as another word for assume, but there is a difference. If someone assumes something, it means she's aware of the fact that she doesn't have all the evidence. Someone who presumes, on the other hand, thinks he knows it all. The famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" comes from the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who ran into the explorer David Livingstone in the wilds of Africa in 1871. The humor of the quote comes from the fact that these were the only two white men known to be in that part of Africa at the time.
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v |
take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof
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v |
take liberties or act with too much confidence
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