surmise

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled surmizes

US /sɚˈmaɪz/ UK /səˈmaɪz/ See IPA manual

verb noun

Meanings

1

verb
to suppose something to be true without firm evidence

From his silence she could only surmise that he disapproved.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to suppose something to be... suppose conjecture guess infer presume speculate assume

Opposites

know prove verify

Word family

Derived forms surmisedsurmising

Related forms mission admit

Etymology

From Old French surmise, feminine past participle of surmettre ('to accuse, lay to the charge of'), from sur- ('upon', from Latin super) + mettre ('to put'), from Latin mittere ('to send').

surmettre Old French mittere Latin

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Describing Qualities

# surmise

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** sɚˈmaɪz
**IPA (UK):** səˈmaɪz

## Meanings
1. to suppose something to be true without firm evidence

## Examples
- From his silence she could only surmise that he disapproved.

## Synonyms
- suppose
- conjecture
- guess
- infer
- presume
- speculate
- assume

## Antonyms
- know
- prove
- verify

## Derived Forms
- surmised
- surmising

## Related Forms
- mission
- admit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: surmettre
- Root: mittere

## Etymology
From Old French surmise, feminine past participle of surmettre ('to accuse, lay to the charge of'), from sur- ('upon', from Latin super) + mettre ('to put'), from Latin mittere ('to send').

## AI Etymology
Surmise is from Old French surmise, feminine past participle of surmettre ('to accuse, lay to the charge of'), from sur- ('upon', from Latin super) + mettre ('to put'), from Latin mittere ('to send'). Important recorded forms include surmettre (Old French) and mittere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense is largely compositional, with the historical elements narrowing into a stable English lexical item. In current use it covers to suppose something to be true without firm evidence. The wider family includes derived forms such as surmised and surmising and related words such as mission and admit.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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surmise

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