premisa

Premisa, in English commonly rendered as premise, is a statement that serves as the starting point for reasoning or argument. In Spanish, Portuguese, and other Romance languages, premisa is the standard term for this concept.

In logic and philosophy, a premise is an assertion that supports a conclusion in a deductive argument. When the premises are true and the reasoning is valid, the conclusion follows. Premises function as the evidentiary basis for claims and are often evaluated for truth, relevance, and sufficiency within a given argumentative framework.

In syllogistic reasoning, premises are typically arranged as major and minor premises that jointly yield a conclusion. Example: All humans are mortal (major premise). Socrates is a human (minor premise). Therefore, Socrates is mortal. This structure illustrates how premises contribute to a logically valid conclusion, assuming the premises are accurate.

In rhetoric and everyday use, a premise can also be an underlying assumption or starting point for an argument or plan. The term is often interchangeable with proposition or assumption, depending on the context, though nuance exists between formal logical usage and colloquial language.

The plural form premises has a different meaning in English: premises refers to a building or property where a business or organization operates. This is distinct from the singular premise referring to a point in an argument, and it is a frequent source of confusion for readers, especially when English is a second language.