hypothesis

hypothesis
noun (plural hypotheses) Etymology: Greek, from hypotithenai to put under, suppose, from hypo- + tithenai to put — more at do Date: circa 1656 1. a. an assumption or concession made for the sake of argument b. an interpretation of a practical situation or condition taken as the ground for action 2. a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences 3. the antecedent clause of a conditional statement Synonyms: hypothesis, theory, law mean a formula derived by inference from scientific data that explains a principle operating in nature. hypothesis implies insufficient evidence to provide more than a tentative explanation <
a hypothesis explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs
>
. theory implies a greater range of evidence and greater likelihood of truth <
the theory of evolution
>
. law implies a statement of order and relation in nature that has been found to be invariable under the same conditions <
the law of gravitation
>
.

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • hypothesis — hypothesis, theory, law are often interchangeable in general use. In their technical senses they are usually discriminated by the scientists and philosophers who employ them. In general the terms denote an inference from data that is offered as a …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • hypothesis — hy‧poth‧e‧sis [haɪˈpɒθss ǁ ˈpɑː ] noun hypotheses PLURALFORM [ siːz] [countable] STATISTICS an idea that can be tested to see if it is true or not: • These results support the hypothesis that individuals are willing to pay more in order to live …   Financial and business terms

  • hypothesis — hypothesis, hypothesis testing A hypothesis is an untested statement about the relationship (usually of association or causation) between concepts within a given theory . Hypothesis testing involves the testing of a hypothesis in a scientific… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hypothesis — I noun assertion, assignment of cause, assumption, conclusion drawn from accepted truths, coniectura, conjecture, deduction, guess, inference, postulate, postulation, speculation, suggestion, supposal, supposition, surmise, tentative explanation …   Law dictionary

  • hypothesis — 1590s, from M.Fr. hypothese and directly from L.L. hypothesis, from Gk. hypothesis base, basis of an argument, supposition, lit. a placing under, from hypo under (see SUB (Cf. sub )) + thesis a placing, proposition (see THESIS (Cf. thesis)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • hypothesis — [hī päth′ə sis, hipäth′ə sis] n. pl. hypotheses [hī päth′əsēz΄, hi päth′əsēz΄] [Gr, groundwork, foundation, supposition < hypotithenai, to place under < hypo , under + tithenai, to place: see HYPO & DO1] an unproved theory, proposition,… …   English World dictionary

  • hypothesis — hypothesis. См. теория попаданий. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • hypothesis — hypothesis. См. теория онкогенов. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • hypothesis — meaning ‘something proposed as a basis for reasoning’, has the plural form hypotheses, pronounced seez …   Modern English usage

  • hypothesis — [n] theory antecedent, apriority, assignment, assumption, attribution, axiom, basis, belief, conclusion, condition, conjecture, data, deduction, demonstration, derivation, explanation, foundation, ground, guess, inference, interpretation, layout …   New thesaurus

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”