A WORD A DAY
POSTULATE. Pronounced pos-tu-late, with o as in pot, u as in unite, a as in gate; observe, but avoid as far as possible, the tendency to palatalize the tu into choo. A “postulate” is a statement the truth of which is so obvious that proof or argument is not required; the utterance of it demands our assent. for instance, the familar postulate that parallel lines never meet demands our acceptance. (There is also the use in the sense of “a condition; an essential preliminary.”)
The word was taken from the Latin postulatum, “a thing demanded”; hence, also, a thing granted. Example: “In geometry a postulate may be indemonstrable but is accepted for practical purposes.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19330203.2.94
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 21930, 3 February 1933, Page 8
Word Count
118A WORD A DAY Southland Times, Issue 21930, 3 February 1933, Page 8
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