When the term assume was first used in English in a 1436 collection of poems, it originally referred to the process of being received into Heaven. This specific meaning still exists in certain Christian theologies as the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The modern sense of the word emerged in the 1590s and has been increasingly used since then, reaching its peak in the early 1970s. The term is derived from the Latin word assumere, which means “to take up” (with the implication of taking something for granted or adopting an opinion). This Latin word is a combination of the prefix ad- (meaning “to”), the verb sumere (meaning “to take”), and the prefix sub- (meaning “under”) combined with the verb emere (meaning “to distribute”).
