Lexic.us

Definition of Hypothesis

1. Noun. A proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations.

2. Noun. A tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena. "He proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices"

3. Noun. A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence.

Definition of Hypothesis

1. 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; as, the hypothesis that head winds detain an overdue steamer.

Definition of Hypothesis

1. Noun. (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. ¹

2. Noun. (context: general) An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation. ¹

3. Noun. (grammar) The antecedent of a conditional statement. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Hypothesis

1. [n -THESES]

Medical Definition of Hypothesis

1. A supposition that appears to explain a group of phenomena and is advanced as a basis for further investigation, a proposition that is subject to proof or to an experimental or statistical test. (11 Jan 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hypothesis

hypothecator hypothecators hypothecs hypothenar hypothenar eminence hypothenar prominence hypothenusal hypothenuse hypothenuses hypothermal

hypothermia hypothermias hypothermic hypothermic anaesthesia hypotheses hypothesis hypothesise hypothesised hypothesises hypothesising

hypothesize hypothesized hypothesizer hypothesizers hypothesizes hypothesizing hypothetic hypothetical hypothetical creature hypothetical imperative

Literary usage of Hypothesis

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication by Charles Darwin (1899)
"... though when mature both are alike in every detail of structure. I am aware that my view is merely a provisional hypothesis or speculation; ..."

2. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1904)
"the circumstances must point to his guilt to the exclusion of any other reasonable hypothesis, Is not error. 2. Where there is any evidence to sustain a ..."

3. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"In 1749 d'Alembert deduced from the hypothesis of gravitation the explanation of the precession of the equinoxes and of the nutation of the earth's axis; ..."

4. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (1901)
"So much the wider field, it may appear, lies open to hypothesis; as, where we cannot know with certainty, we are at liberty to make guesses, ..."

5. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1900)
"Now under the operation of these laws a most interesting generalization or hypothesis can be made as to the three realms, geographical isolation has been so ..."

6. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"the second hypothesis, the Logos possessed all the inherent, ... By this hypothesis a real substantial trinity is refined into a trinity of names and ..."

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