Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
- n. Something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption.
- n. The antecedent of a conditional statement.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. 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.
- n. An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation.
- n. The antecedent of a conditional statement.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. 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.
- n. 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.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- A condition; that from which something follows: as, freedom is the hypothesis of democracy.
- A proposition assumed and taken for granted, to be used as a premise in proving something else; a postulate.
- A supposition; a judgment concerning an imaginary state of things, or the imaginary state of things itself concerning whose consequences some statement is made or question is asked; the antecedent of a conditional proposition; the proposition disproved by reductio ad absurdum.
- The conclusion of an argument from consequent and antecedent; a proposition held to be probably true because its consequences, according to known general principles, are found to be true; the supposition that an object has a certain character, from which it would necessarily follow that it must possess other characters which it is observed to possess.
- An ill-supported theory; a proposition not believed, but whose consequences it is thought desirable to compare with facts.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena
- n. a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
- n. a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations
Etymologies
Examples
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But who knows – after all, the Darwin hypothesis is a minority viewpoint, but and the lack of physical evidence leaves considerable doubt.
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March 6th, 2009 at 9: 27 am nullasalus: But who knows – after all, the Darwin hypothesis is a minority viewpoint, but and the lack of physical evidence leaves considerable doubt.
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March 7th, 2009 at 10: 38 am nullasalus: But who knows – after all, the Darwin hypothesis is a minority viewpoint, but and the lack of physical evidence leaves considerable doubt.
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Are you familiar with the term hypothesis as it is used in science?
Behe Reveals the DI's Latest Talking Points - The Panda's Thumb
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However, in common usage, it has come to mean ‘hunch’ or ‘speculation’ what the word hypothesis means in science.
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Acipenser, a hypothesis is an answer (a tentative one), not a question.
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For myself, I think that the evidence most often adduced in favor of the hypothesis is the most persuasive testimony for the other side of the case.
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Senior Vice Finance Minister Yukihisa Fujita, who oversees budget making with Finance Minister Jun Azumi, said at a news conference on Thursday that he hadn't read the IMF report, and declined to assess what he referred to as a "hypothesis" about Japan's finances.
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Nonetheless, the hypothesis is at least consistent with theism and radically incompatible with the belief that reason is a mere by-product of an irrational universe.
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This hypothesis is then extended to add that trans* women are Teh Most Evillous because not only are we actively embracing our new-found femininity but are revelling in being ‘ultra femme’, thereby adding insult to injury by presenting to the male population a false stereotype of woman.
uttarnikhil commented on the word hypothesis
A tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
n. Something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption.
n. The antecedent of a conditional statement.
August 31, 2013