adj, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "postulate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "postulate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "postulate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Check whether "postulate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
Compare it with "posit" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Before publishing a sentence with "postulate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
"1883, Benedictus de Spinoza, translated by R. H. M. Elwes, Ethics, Part 3, Prop. XXII, But this pleasure or pain is postulated to come to us accompanied by the idea of an external cause; […]"
"[A]lthough Douglas was postulated to it [the Abbacy of Arbroath], and signed letters and papers under this designation his nomination […] was never completed."
"postulate Illation"
"We need to postulate a completely different paradigm to explain all these phenomena."
Something assumed without proof as being self-evident or generally accepted, especially when used as a basis for an argument. Sometimes distinguished from axioms as being relevant to a particular science or context, rather than universally true, and following from other axioms rather than being an absolute assumption.
Common synonyms include: posit, a priori principle, a priori truth, absolute fact, accepted fact, actual fact.
We need to postulate a completely different paradigm to explain all these phenomena.
Pronounced /ˈpɑst͡ʃələt/.
From Latin postulātus or Latin postulātum. Alternatively, a substantivation of Latin postulātus, perfect passive participle of postulō (“to request”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. Compare French postulat.
From Latin postulātus, perfect passive participle of postulō (“request”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more. Compare French postuler.
From Latin postulātus, perfect passive participle of postulō (“request”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.