SUNDAY, AUGUST 03, 2008
THE WORD "PREMISES"
Today in Ridiculous Word Origins
Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know how the word "premises", meaning a tract of land with its buildings and other facilities, has a silly root. Wiki says:
"Premises are land and buildings together considered as a property. This usage arose from property owners finding the word in their title deeds, where it originally correctly meant "the aforementioned; what this document is about", from Latin prae-missus = "placed before".
Some people suppose that since "premises" looks like a plural, a single house or other piece of property must be a "premise"; but the word "premise" is reserved for use as a term in logic meaning something assumed or taken as given in making an argument."
Silly, no?
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