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Webster 1913 Edition


Hypothesis

Hy-poth′e-sis

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Hypotheses
(#)
.
[NL., fr. Gr. [GREEK] foundation, supposition, fr. [GREEK] to place under, [GREEK] under + [GREEK] 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
.
An
hypothesis
being a mere supposition, there are no other limits to
hypotheses
than those of the human imagination.
J. S. Mill.
Syn. – Supposition; assumption. See
Theory
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Hypothesis

HYPOTH'ESIS

,
Noun.
[L. from Gr. a supposition; to suppose.]
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.
2.
A system or theory imagined or assumed to account for what is not understood.

Definition 2024


hypothesis

hypothesis

English

Noun

hypothesis (plural hypotheses)

  1. (sciences) Used loosely, a tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem that can be tested by further observation, investigation and/or experimentation. As a scientific term of art, see the attached quotation. Compare to theory, and quotation given there.
    • 2005, Ronald H. Pine, http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/intelligent_design_or_no_model_creationism, 15 October 2005:
      Far too many of us have been taught in school that a scientist, in the course of trying to figure something out, will first come up with a "hypothesis" (a guess or surmise—not necessarily even an "educated" guess). ... [But t]he word "hypothesis" should be used, in science, exclusively for a reasoned, sensible, knowledge-informed explanation for why some phenomenon exists or occurs. An hypothesis can be as yet untested; can have already been tested; may have been falsified; may have not yet been falsified, although tested; or may have been tested in a myriad of ways countless times without being falsified; and it may come to be universally accepted by the scientific community. An understanding of the word "hypothesis," as used in science, requires a grasp of the principles underlying Occam's Razor and Karl Popper's thought in regard to "falsifiability"—including the notion that any respectable scientific hypothesis must, in principle, be "capable of" being proven wrong (if it should, in fact, just happen to be wrong), but none can ever be proved to be true. One aspect of a proper understanding of the word "hypothesis," as used in science, is that only a vanishingly small percentage of hypotheses could ever potentially become a theory.
  2. (general) An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation.
  3. (grammar) The antecedent of a conditional statement.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations


Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis, hypothesis, noun).

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /hyˈpo.tʰe.sis/, [hʏˈpɔ.tʰɛ.sɪs]

Noun

hypothesis f (genitive hypothesis); third declension

  1. hypothesis

Inflection

Third declension, alternative accusative singular in -im, alternative ablative singular in and accusative plural in -īs.

Case Singular Plural
nominative hypothesis hypothesēs
genitive hypothesis hypothesium
dative hypothesī hypothesibus
accusative hypothesem
hypothesim
hypothesēs
hypothesīs
ablative hypothese
hypothesī
hypothesibus
vocative hypothesis hypothesēs