POSTULATE

(Lat. postulare, to demand.) In Geometry, something to be a umed, or taken for granted. Euclid has constructed his Elements on the three following postulates: — 1. That a straight line may be drawn from any one point to any other point. 2. That a terminated straight line may be produced to any length in a straight line. 3. That a circle may be described from any centre at any distance from that centre. {Flayjair's Euclid.) Postulate. In Logic and Philosophy, a proposition of which the truth is demanded or a umed for the purpose of future reasoning. [s. 979]