assertion

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

assertion
    n 1: a declaration that is made emphatically (as if no
         supporting evidence were necessary) [syn: {assertion},
         {averment}, {asseveration}]
    2: the act of affirming or asserting or stating something [syn:
       {affirmation}, {assertion}, {statement}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Assertion \As*ser"tion\, n. [L. assertio, fr. asserere.]
   1. The act of asserting, or that which is asserted; positive
      declaration or averment; affirmation; statement asserted;
      position advanced.
      [1913 Webster]

            There is a difference between assertion and
            demonstration.                        --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Maintenance; vindication; as, the assertion of one's
      rights or prerogatives.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

assertion

   <programming> 1. An expression which, if false, indicates an
   {error}.  Assertions are used for {debugging} by catching
   {can't happen} errors.

   2. In {logic programming}, a new {fact} or {rule} added to the
   database by the program at {run time}.  This is an
   {extralogical} or impure feature of logic programming
   languages.

   (1997-06-30)

107 Moby Thesaurus words for "assertion": Parthian shot, a priori principle, address, admission, affidavit, affirmance, affirmation, allegation, announcement, annunciation, answer, apostrophe, apriorism, asseveration, assumed position, assumption, attest, attestation, averment, avouchment, avowal, axiom, basis, categorical proposition, comment, compurgation, conclusion, confirmation, contention, crack, creed, data, declaration, deposition, dictum, disclosure, enunciation, exclamation, expression, first principles, foundation, greeting, ground, hypothesis, hypothesis ad hoc, insistence, instrument in proof, interjection, ipse dixit, legal evidence, lemma, major premise, manifesto, mention, minor premise, note, observation, philosopheme, philosophical proposition, phrase, position, position paper, positive declaration, postulate, postulation, postulatum, predicate, predication, premise, presupposition, proclamation, profession, pronouncement, proposition, propositional function, protest, protestation, question, reflection, remark, representation, say, say-so, saying, sentence, stance, stand, statement, subjoinder, sumption, supposal, sworn evidence, sworn statement, sworn testimony, testimonial, testimonium, testimony, theorem, thesis, thought, truth table, truth-function, truth-value, utterance, vouch, witness, word