MEANING
To put forward an idea or assumption as a basis for reasoning.
Use it for
theoretical assumptions; proposed mechanisms; alternative explanationsMark a premise as proposed rather than established.
Words that belong together
- posit a relationship
- posit that
- posit an explanation
On the page
The theory posits a link between social trust and voluntary compliance.
To explain the pattern, the author posits an unseen intermediate stage.
We need not posit malicious intent to account for the error.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- posit / posits
- Past tense
- posited
- Past participle
- posited
- Present participle
- positing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- posit / posits
- Present continuous
- am/is/are positing
- Present perfect
- have/has posited
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been positing
- Past
- posited
- Past continuous
- was/were positing
- Past perfect
- had posited
- Past perfect continuous
- had been positing
- Future
- will posit / posits
- Future continuous
- will be positing
- Future perfect
- will have posited
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been positing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: academic. Formal, especially academic; positing is not proving. Usually posit a relationship, principle, or hypothesis, or posit that a condition holds. Verb inflections [base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing]: posit, posits, posited, posited, positing.
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