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hypothesis

In science, a hypothesis is an idea or explanation that you then test through study and experimentation. Outside science, a theory or guess can also be called a hypothesis.

A hypothesis is something more than a wild guess but less than a well-established theory. In science, a hypothesis needs to go through a lot of testing before it gets labeled a theory. In the non-scientific world, the word is used a lot more loosely. A detective might have a hypothesis about a crime, and a mother might have a hypothesis about who spilled juice on the rug. Anyone who uses the word hypothesis is making a guess.

DEFINITIONS OF: hypothesis

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

“a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory”

Synonyms:: possibility, theory

Types:: show 17 types...; hide 17 types...; hypothetical
a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.; gemmule
the physically discrete element that Darwin proposed as responsible for heredity; framework, model, theoretical account
a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process; conjecture, speculation
a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence); assumption, supposal, supposition
a hypothesis that is taken for granted; historicism
a theory that social and cultural events are determined by history; computer simulation, simulation
(computer science) the technique of representing the real world by a computer program; conclusion
an intuitive assumption; base, basis, cornerstone, foundation, fundament, groundwork
the fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained; mean sun
a theoretical sun that moves along the celestial equator at a constant speed and completes its annual course in the same amount of time the real sun takes at variable speeds; Copernican system
(astronomy) Copernicus' astronomical model in which the Earth rotates around the sun; Ptolemaic system
(astronomy) Ptolemy's model of the universe with the Earth at the center; M-theory
(particle physics) a theory that involves an eleven-dimensional universe in which the weak and strong forces and gravity are unified and to which all the string theories belong; string theory
(particle physics) a theory that postulates that subatomic particles are one-dimensional strings; given, precondition, presumption
an assumption that is taken for granted; basic assumption, constatation, self-evident truth
an assumption that is basic to an argument; stochastic process
a statistical process involving a number of random variables depending on a variable parameter (which is usually time)

Type of:: concept, conception, construct
an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances

n a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations

Type of:: proposal
something proposed (such as a plan or assumption)

n a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

Synonyms:: conjecture, guess, speculation, supposition, surmisal, surmise

Types:: divination
successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck

Type of:: opinion, view
a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof

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