Volume XII, Poise-Quelt
Clarendon Press, Oxford
premiss, premise
(‘prɛmis), sb. [a.
F. prémisse (Oresme, 14th c.), also obs. and less usual premise
('a foreplacing, a setting before’ Cotgr.), ad. Med. L. præmissa
(propositio, sententia), in Logic, a proposition set
in front, a premiss, pa. pple. fem. of præmittĕre to put before:
see PREMIT.
The etymological spelling
is premiss, pl. premisses, formally used in all senses, and still
frequent (but by no means universal) in sense I; in other senses premises
(sing. premise), which appears in early in 16th c., is now in
use. This may have been influenced by promise, -ises, or possibly by the
16th c. Fr. Variant prémise.
1. A previous statement or proposition
from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion; spec. in pl.
the two propositions from which the conclusion is derived in a syllogism.
(The sing. is late (17th c.) and less common).
2. pl. The matters of things
stated or mentioned previously; what has just been said; the aforesaid,
the foregoing. Often in legal phraseology: see also 3, 4. Rarely in sing.
(quot. 1683 in β). Now rare or Obs. exc. In
technical use.
3. Law. (pl.) That
part in the beginning of a deed or conveyance which sets forth the names
of the grantor, grantee, and things granted, together with the consideration
or reason of the grant.
4. Law. (pl.) (spec.
use of 2.) The subject of a conveyance or bequest, specified in the premises
of the deed: so expressed when referred to collectively in the latter
part of the document; = the houses, lands, or tenements above-said or
before-mentioned.
5. pl. (from 4) A house or
building with its grounds or other appurtenances.
6. pl. Previous circumstances
or events; things happening before. Obs.
