premise
PREM-isnounMeaning a statement assumed true and used as a starting point for reasoning
Memory hook PRE-MISE: the block that goes FIRST. An argument is a tower of blocks, and the premise is the block at the bottom: set down first, before anything is built on it. If it is wobbly, the whole tower falls.
The whole plan rested on one premise: that the store would still be open at nine.
In context Her conclusion followed logically, but it was built on a false premise; she had assumed the bridge was open, and it had been closed for repairs all week.
Similar assumption, basis, starting point, supposition
Opposite conclusion
From Latin praemissa, “sent before”: prae (before) + mittere (to send); a premise is put first, before the conclusion.