The Meaning of Premises: What It Is and How To Use It

Have you ever heard the word premises used and been confused by its meaning? This article will tell you all about the meaning of premises.

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You might have heard the word premises used to describe a piece of property. This word can have numerous definitions outside of that singular meaning. 

Keep reading this article to learn all about the definition of the word premises, translations, its origin, and synonyms. This article will also include example sentences containing the word premises. Let’s get started!

What Does the Word Premises Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, premises are pieces of land and the buildings on that land, which are often businesses. Premises can also mean a fundamental concept of an argument or piece of logic — AKA, a logical premise — and the propositions of a syllogism. 

The term on-premises can also refer to a traditional method for using enterprise software. In on-premises software, the end user or grantee needs a software license. 

To make the word premise into a plural, take off the “ise” and add “es.” The word premise is two syllables: prem-ise.

What Is the Origin of the Word Premises?

The Free Dictionary states that the word premise has been used since the Middle English premisse, which comes from Old French and the Medieval Latin praemissa, Latin prae-missus, and propositiō. These terms come from the Latin past participle of praemittere and the roots prae, pre, and mittere, which mean to send.

How Can We Use Premises in a Sentence?

The word premises can be found in several contexts, so it is important to understand how to use it in each. Study the below examples of a premise to get a sense of how this word can be used in a sentence. Then, try to come up with your own example sentences that contain the word premise. 

The police yelled at us to get off of the premises. We thought that the piece of land was public property, but it was not.

The jury understood the basic premises of the argument, the names of the parties, and the details of the plaintiff.

The property owners installed cameras on their premises. With just a few clicks, they could see all around the single house and other built structures to make sure their infrastructure was secure.

The part of the premises that had public access would be used for smaller businesses and storefronts. The other part of a building would be used for apartments, and another one would be built for larger companies.

We were shocked that the UK ambassador did not understand the simple premise that was laid out for part of a bill. The usage of the legal language was fairly standard, but they were unfamiliar.

The customer’s premises were ransacked in September. There wasn’t a single place left untouched.

What Are Translations of Premises?

The concept of a premises is not exclusive to the English language. Many languages around the world have translations of the word premises. If you are trying to discuss premises in a physical or a metaphorical sense with someone who does not speak English, you can reference the below list of translations of promises

You may notice that some of the words below look similar to the word premises. These types of translations of the word premises are called cognates. 

  • Chinese (PRC): 前提
  • Ukrainian: приміщення
  • Japanese: 敷地内
  • Latvian: telpas
  • Indonesian: tempat
  • Kannada: ಪ್ರಮೇಯಗಳು
  • Malay: premis
  • Portuguese (Portugal): instalações
  • Turkish: mülk
  • Amharic: ግቢ
  • Dutch: terrein
  • Swahili: Mahali
  • Filipino: lugar
  • Hebrew: חֲצֵרִים
  • Malayalam: പീഠിക
  • Croatian: prostorije
  • Marathi: आवारात
  • German: Firmengelände
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 前提
  • Romanian: Premisele
  • Arabic: مقدمات
  • Gujarati: સ્થળ
  • Thai: สถานที่
  • Spanish: local
  • Slovak: priestor
  • Catalan: local
  • Norwegian: lokaler
  • Danish: lokaliteter
  • Serbian: просторије
  • Vietnamese: cơ sở
  • Estonian: ruumid
  • Greek: κτίριο
  • Russian: предпосылки
  • Slovenian: prostori
  • Swedish: lokal
  • Welsh: mangreoedd
  • Italian: locali
  • Bulgarian: помещение
  • Telugu: ప్రాంగణంలో
  • Basque: lokal
  • Lithuanian: Patalpos
  • French: locaux
  • Korean: 가옥
  • Hungarian: helyiségek
  • Urdu: احاطہ
  • Tamil: வளாகங்கள்
  • Bengali: প্রাঙ্গনে
  • Icelandic: svæði
  • Finnish: tiloissa
  • Polish: lokal
  • Czech: prostory
  • Portuguese (Brazil): instalações
  • Hindi: घर

What Are Synonyms of the Word Premises?

The word premises often has a law enforcement-related or legal connotation. When you think of the word premises, you might think of law enforcement telling someone to vacate the premises or something of that nature. It can have a bit of a negative connotation and be associated with trespassing, so it can be useful to know synonyms without this type of connotation. 

Power Thesaurus provides a list of synonyms of the word premises that can be used in both the context of land and the context of an argument. Study the below synonyms of premises and see which ones you might decide to use in each context:

  • accommodation
  • area
  • arguments
  • assumption
  • assumptions
  • base
  • boutique
  • building
  • buildings
  • conjecture
  • conjectures
  • construction
  • contentions
  • dealership
  • edifice
  • establishment
  • facilities
  • facility
  • facts
  • field
  • ground
  • grounds
  • home
  • house
  • houses
  • hypotheses
  • hypothesis
  • illations
  • joint
  • land
  • location
  • office
  • opinions
  • place
  • points
  • positions
  • postulate
  • postulates
  • preconditions
  • preface
  • premise
  • presumption
  • presumptions
  • presuppositions
  • properties
  • property
  • proposition
  • propositions
  • real estate
  • salon
  • site
  • space
  • station
  • structure
  • supposition
  • suppositions
  • terrain
  • territory
  • theses
  • zone

Conclusion

The definition of premise is a piece of land and the buildings that are on that land, as well as a fundamental concept of an argument. The word premises is often seen in legal or law enforcement contexts in which people are asked to vacate the premises. This term is also often used in arguments, debate, and logic to refer to the thesis of an argument. 

Sources:

  1. Premises synonyms – 531 Words and Phrases for Premises | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Premises | Nice Translator
  3. Premises definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
  4. definition of premises | The Free Dictionary