Proposition

How to spell proposition

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce proposition

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does proposition mean?

1. nounA plan, offer, or suggestion put forward for consideration, especially in business.
2. nounA statement or assertion that can be judged true or false.
3. verbTo put a proposal or offer to someone, often a private or improper one.

Proposition in a sentence

• noun

  The investors found the start-up's proposition too risky to fund.

• noun

  The philosophy tutor asked whether the proposition could ever be proven.

• verb

  A rival firm tried to proposition him with a lucrative side deal.

• noun

  Buying a second home is an expensive proposition for most families.

• noun

  Each proposition in the proof followed logically from the one before it.

• verb

  She refused to proposition any supplier outside the formal tender process.

Where does proposition come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin propositio, meaning 'a setting forth' or 'a statement put forward', which was built from the verb proponere, 'to put forward' or 'to display'. That verb joined pro, meaning 'forth' or 'forward', with ponere, meaning 'to place' or 'to put', so the literal sense was something laid out in front of an audience for consideration. English took the word through Old French proposicion in the 1300s, when it first meant a statement offered for debate or a topic to be discussed. From that base it broadened into a business offer, a logical assertion that can be judged true or false, and even an informal verb meaning to make an offer to someone. The same ponere root that gives the 'posit' middle also sits inside 'position', 'deposit', and 'compose', which is a useful reminder that the tricky middle is spelled 'pos' and not 'pose'.

How the word is built

• pro- (forth, forward)
• posit (from Latin ponere/positus: to place, to put)
• -ion (noun suffix)