Definition of premise

• n. - A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition.
• n. - Either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.
• n. - Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.
• n. - A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts; as, to lease premises; to trespass on another's premises.
• n. - To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously.
• n. - To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings.
• v. i. - To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise.