surmise

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

Pronunciation: /sɜːˈmaɪz/ / /sɚˈmaɪz/

Etymology: From Old French surmis, past participle of surmetre, surmettre (“to accuse”), from sur- (“upon”) + metre (“to put”).

Thought, imagination, or conjecture, which may be based upon feeble or scanty evidence; suspicion; guess.
“surmises of jealousy or of envy”
“This opinion, however, is merely a surmise, which may or may not be the case.”
Reflection; thought; posit.
“My Thought, whoſe Murther yet is but fantaſticall, / Shakes ſo my ſingle ſtate of Man, / That Function is ſmother'd in ſurmiſe, / And nothing is, but what is not.”
“Then felt I like some watcher of the skies / When a new planet swims into his ken; / Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes / He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men / Look'd at each other with a wild surmise— / Silent, upon a peak in Darien.”

Etymology: From Old French surmis, past participle of surmetre, surmettre (“to accuse”), from sur- (“upon”) + metre (“to put”).

To imagine or suspect; to conjecture; to posit with contestable premises.
“If, as I surmise, you see the ladies this evening, you might mention my intended visit.”