premises
premises Lexical Profile
premises Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A house or building, together with its land and outbuildings, occupied by a business or considered in an official or legal context.
"Alcohol may not be consumed on the company premises at any time."
Previous statements or propositions from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.
"If your initial premises are flawed, your final conclusion cannot be trusted."
The preliminary statements in a legal document or deed that set forth the names of the parties, the background facts, and the property being conveyed.
"The attorney carefully reviewed the premises of the deed to verify the chain of title."
• verb
To base an argument, theory, or action on a specified statement or assumption (third-person singular simple present of premise).
"The author premises her entire economic theory on the idea that consumers act rationally."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to a building and its surrounding property, 'premises' is a pluralia tantum noun that always takes a plural verb (e.g., 'the premises are secure') and has no singular form in this sense; the singular 'premise' refers strictly to an assumption or proposition in an argument.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French premisse, from Medieval Latin praemissa ('a proposition set before'), feminine past participle of Latin praemittere ('to send or put before'). The property sense developed from legal documents where the 'premises' referred back to the previously mentioned buildings and lands.