Hypothesis \Hy*poth"e*sis\, n.; pl. Hypotheses. [NL., fr. Gr.
? foundation, supposition, fr. ? to place under, ? under + ?
to put. See Hypo-, Thesis.]
1. A supposition; a proposition or principle which is
supposed or taken for granted, in order to draw a
conclusion or inference for proof of the point in
question; something not proved, but assumed for the
purpose of argument, or to account for a fact or an
occurrence; as, the hypothesis that head winds detain an
overdue steamer.
[1913 Webster]
An hypothesis being a mere supposition, there are no
other limits to hypotheses than those of the human
imagination. --J. S. Mill.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Natural Science) A tentative theory or supposition
provisionally adopted to explain certain facts, and to
guide in the investigation of others; hence, frequently
called a working hypothesis.
Syn: Supposition; assumption. See Theory.
[1913 Webster]
Nebular hypothesis. See under Nebular. Hypothetic
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
hypothesis
n 1: a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations
2: a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that
is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain
facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives
experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he
proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted
in chemical practices" [syn: possibility, theory]
3: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
[syn: guess, conjecture, supposition, surmise, surmisal,
speculation]
[also: hypotheses (pl)]
WordNet (r) 2.0
48 Moby Thesaurus words for "hypothesis":
a priori principle, affirmation, apriorism, assertion,
assumed position, assumption, axiom, basis,
categorical proposition, conjecture, data, first principles,
foundation, ground, guesswork, hypothesis ad hoc, inference, lemma,
major premise, minor premise, philosopheme,
philosophical proposition, position, postulate, postulation,
postulatum, premise, premiss, presumption, presupposal,
presupposition, proposition, propositional function,
set of postulates, speculation, statement, sumption, supposal,
supposing, supposition, surmise, theorem, theory, thesis,
truth table, truth-function, truth-value, working hypothesis
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
|
|
|