Latin quote · Law

Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit

“A presumption is drawn from what usually happens.”

Legal maxim

Translation

What does “Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit” mean?

Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit translates as “A presumption is drawn from what usually happens.”

When facts are unclear, the law assumes what normally occurs. It is a practical rule for reasoning under uncertainty.

Word by word

“Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit” word by word

Latin	English	Grammar
Praesumptio	presumption	nominative singular feminine of praesumptio, “presumption, assumption”; the subject of the sentence
sumitur	is drawn, is taken	present passive indicative, 3rd person singular, of sumo, “I take, I draw”
de	from, out of	preposition taking the ablative; here “on the basis of”
eo	that	ablative singular neuter of the demonstrative is, ea, id; the antecedent of quod
quod	which	nominative singular neuter relative pronoun, subject of fit; “that which”
plerumque	for the most part, usually	adverb, from plerusque, “the greater part”
fit	happens, comes about	present indicative, 3rd person singular, of fio, “I become, I happen” (used as the passive of facio)

Pronunciation

How to pronounce “Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit”

Classical Latinprye-SOOMP-tee-oh SOO-mih-toor deh EH-oh kwod pleh-ROOM-kweh fit

Church Latinpreh-ZOOMP-tsee-oh SOO-mee-toor deh EH-oh kwod pleh-ROOM-kweh feet

The main differences are ae (eye versus eh), ti before a vowel (tee versus tsee), the soft s in praesumptio, and short i in sumitur and fit (classical fit as in “fit”, church like “feet”). Stress falls on the third syllable of praesumptio and on the first of sumitur.

Origin & context

The story behind it

Word for word the maxim says that a presumption is taken from that which for the most part happens. It is a statement about how legal presumptions come to exist, rather than a rule about any one case.

It belongs to the civil-law tradition, the body of law built on Roman law and its medieval commentary. Jurists used short maxims like this to summarise how courts should reason when proof is missing.

The idea is that when a fact cannot be shown directly, the law may assume what ordinarily happens, until someone proves otherwise. Modern evidence law still works this way, for example in the presumption that a letter properly posted was received.

Like many Latin legal maxims, it is a late formulation rather than a line from a single ancient text. No specific author or work is given here, so it is best cited simply as a legal maxim.

When to use it

How to use “Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit”

Best as an epigraph or opening line for a paper, lecture or blog post on evidence, burden of proof or legal presumptions. It also suits a law-school notebook or a talk about reasoning under uncertainty.

Latin: Praesumptio sumitur de eo quod plerumque fit
English: A presumption is drawn from what usually happens.
Source: Legal maxim
Era: Legal Latin
Theme: Law

Good to know

Common mistakes

Praesumptio here means a legal or logical presumption, not arrogance or boldness, which is the later English sense of “presumption”.
Plerumque means “usually, for the most part”, not “always”; the maxim allows exceptions, and most presumptions can be rebutted.
Do not attribute it to a famous Roman such as Cicero or Ulpian; it is a legal maxim of uncertain origin.
The spelling is praesumptio; the form praesumtio is a variant, but praesumptio is the usual one.

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