Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - assume

 transitive verb  (~d; assuming)  Etymology: Middle English, from Latin ~re, from ad- + sumere to take — more at consume  Date: 15th century  1.  a. to take up or in ; receive  b. to take into partnership, employment, or use  2.  a. to take to or upon oneself ; undertake ~ responsibility  b. put on, don  c. to place oneself in ~ a position  3. seize, usurp ~ control  4. to pretend to have or be ; feign ~d an air of confidence in spite of her dismay  5. to take as granted or true ; suppose I ~ he'll be there  6. to take over (the debts of another) as one's own  • assumability noun  • assumable adjective  • assumably adverb Synonyms:  ~, affect, pretend, simulate, feign, counterfeit, sham mean to put on a false or deceptive appearance. ~ often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive ~d an air of cheerfulness around the patients. affect implies making a false show of possessing, using, or feeling affected an interest in art. pretend implies an overt and sustained false appearance pretended that nothing had happened. simulate suggests a close imitation of the appearance of something cosmetics that simulate a suntan. feign implies more artful invention than pretend less specific mimicry than simulate feigned sickness. counterfeit implies achieving the highest degree of verisimilitude of any of these words an actor counterfeiting drunkenness. sham implies an obvious falseness that fools only the gullible shammed a most unconvincing limp.