Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

hypothesis en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/ (UK)
  • /-əsəs/ (UK)
  • (US) audio
  • /-əsɪs/ (UK)
  • /həˈpɒθɪsɪs/ (UK)
  • /hɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/ (UK)
  • [haɪˈpʰɑθəsɪs] (US)

Etymology

Recorded since 1596, from Middle French hypothese, from Late Latin hypothesis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis, “base, basis of an argument, supposition”, literally “a placing under”), itself from ὑποτίθημι (hupotíthēmi, “to set before, suggest”), from ὑπό (hupó, “below”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”). Compare hypothec.

Meanings

  1. A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem and that can be tested by further observation, investigation, or experimentation.
    • 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. 2005, Ronald H. Pine, http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/intelligent_design_or_no_model_creationism, 15 October 2005
    • This hypothesis goes by many names, including group resistence, the threshold effect, and the gender paradox. Because the hypothesis holds such wide appeal, it is worth revisiting the logic behind it. The hypothesis is built on the factual observation that fewer females than males act antisocially. 2001 September 27, Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Michael Rutter, Phil A. Silva, Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Conduct Disorder, Delinquency, and Violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 151:
  2. (general) An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation.
  3. The antecedent of a conditional statement.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
hypotheses Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

theory · law[Appendix:Glossary

Deriveds

hypothetic · Purple Earth hypothesis · Out of India hypothesis · hypothesize · Schinzel's hypothesis H · expectations hypothesis · just-world hypothesis · cosmic censorship hypothesis · Rare Earth hypothesis · generalized continuum hypothesis · God hypothesis · subhypothesis · Omphalos hypothesis · hypothetical · Avogadro's hypothesis · Monro-Kellie hypothesis · aquatic ape hypothesis · hypothetically · hypothesise · conspiracy hypothesis · documentary hypothesis · inductive hypothesis · efficient market hypothesis · level-ordering hypothesis · counterhypothesis · dark forest hypothesis · mafia hypothesis · ergodic hypothesis · induction hypothesis · permanent income hypothesis · multihypothesis · null hypothesis · alternative hypothesis · five-minute hypothesis · critical brain hypothesis · Medea hypothesis · sexy son hypothesis · Habakkuk hypothesis · swaddling hypothesis · berserker hypothesis · hypothesist · Wellhausen's hypothesis · Fisher hypothesis · zombie hypothesis · interface hypothesis · simulation hypothesis · Riemann hypothesis · ovulatory shift hypothesis · Griesbach hypothesis · trickle down hypothesis · Thomson's hypothesis · working hypothesis · Red Queen hypothesis · trickle-down hypothesis · Sapir-Whorf hypothesis · continuum hypothesis · Prout's hypothesis · Gaia hypothesis · swoon hypothesis

Synonyms

supposition · theory · theory[Appendix:Glossary · thesis · hunch · speculation · reckoning · given · postulation · foreguess · conjecture · presumption · suspicion · conjecture · inference · educated guess · guess · assumption · possibility · supposition · posit · guess · surmise · hypothesis

Translations (149)

eo hipotezo (tentative conjecture in science) · bn অনুকল্প (tentative conjecture in science) · be прыпушчэ́ньне (tentative conjecture in science) · ro ipoteză (assumption taken to be true) · az fərziyyə (tentative conjecture in science) · yue 假設 /假设 (tentative conjecture in science) · el υπόθεση (tentative conjecture in science) · ka ჰიპოთეზა (tentative conjecture in science) · pt hipótese (assumption taken to be true) · cs hypotéza (assumption taken to be true) · cmn 假定 (tentative conjecture in science) · ca hipòtesi (tentative conjecture in science) · tl palagayin (antecedent of a conditional statement) · kk гипотеза (tentative conjecture in science) · ckb گریمانە (tentative conjecture in science) · uk припу́щення (tentative conjecture in science) · cs hypotéza (tentative conjecture in science) · cmn 假設 /假设 (assumption taken to be true) · ja 仮説 (tentative conjecture in science) · kmr feraziye (tentative conjecture in science) · hu feltételezés (assumption taken to be true) · fa-ira اِنْگاشْتِه (tentative conjecture in science) · fi otaksuma (assumption taken to be true) · ms hipotesis (tentative conjecture in science) · ur فَرْضِیَہ (tentative conjecture in science) · sk domnienka (tentative conjecture in science) · lv hipotēze (tentative conjecture in science) · la hypothesis (tentative conjecture in science) · de Hypothese (assumption taken to be true) · es hipótesis (tentative conjecture in science) · lo ສົມມຸດຕິຖານ (tentative conjecture in science) · bg предположе́ние (assumption taken to be true) · fi hypoteesi (antecedent of a conditional statement) · sl hipoteza (tentative conjecture in science) · da hypotese (tentative conjecture in science) · pt hipótese (tentative conjecture in science) · cs domněnka (tentative conjecture in science) · mk хипоте́за (tentative conjecture in science) · ru гипо́теза (assumption taken to be true) · uk засно́вок (tentative conjecture in science) · fa-ira فَرْضِیِه (tentative conjecture in science) · ru предположе́ние (assumption taken to be true) · de Hypothese (tentative conjecture in science) · cmn 假說 /假说 (assumption taken to be true) · sv hypotes (tentative conjecture in science) · mn таамаглал (tentative conjecture in science) · ca hipòtesi (antecedent of a conditional statement) · he הַשְׁעָרָה (tentative conjecture in science) · fa-ira پِنْداشْتِه (tentative conjecture in science) · ro ipoteză (antecedent of a conditional statement) · fr hypothèse (tentative conjecture in science) · af hipotese (assumption taken to be true) · cs domněnka (assumption taken to be true) · nb hypotese (tentative conjecture in science) · da hypotese (assumption taken to be true) · be прыпушчэ́ньне (assumption taken to be true) · gl hipótese (tentative conjecture in science) · ru предположе́ние (tentative conjecture in science) · he הִיפּוֹתֵזָה (tentative conjecture in science) · ug گىپوتېزا (tentative conjecture in science) · pt hipótese (antecedent of a conditional statement) · nl hypothese (assumption taken to be true) · ro prezumție (assumption taken to be true) · nl veronderstelling (assumption taken to be true) · ro ipoteză (tentative conjecture in science) · cmn 假說 /假说 (tentative conjecture in science) · sq hipotezë (tentative conjecture in science) · hy հիպոթեզ (tentative conjecture in science) · ca hipòtesi (assumption taken to be true) · cmn 假設 /假设 (tentative conjecture in science) · es hipótesis (antecedent of a conditional statement) · de Hypothese (antecedent of a conditional statement) · lb Hypothees (tentative conjecture in science) · ko 가설 (tentative conjecture in science) · tr hipotez (tentative conjecture in science) · tt гипотеза (tentative conjecture in science) · lt hipotezė (tentative conjecture in science) · uk припу́щення (assumption taken to be true) · ko 가정 (assumption taken to be true) · sh хипоте́за (tentative conjecture in science) · sv antagande (assumption taken to be true) · uk гіпо́теза (tentative conjecture in science) · az hipotez (tentative conjecture in science) · ky гипотеза (tentative conjecture in science) · es hipótesi (antecedent of a conditional statement) · ja 仮定 (assumption taken to be true) · es hipótesi (tentative conjecture in science) · pl przypuszczenie (assumption taken to be true) · ota تقدیر (assumption taken to be true) · tl palagayin (assumption taken to be true) · af hipotese (tentative conjecture in science) · kmr hîpotez (tentative conjecture in science) · ga hipitéis (tentative conjecture in science) · fi hypoteesi (tentative conjecture in science) · nl stelling (tentative conjecture in science) · fi olettamus (assumption taken to be true) · et hüpotees (tentative conjecture in science) · nl hypothese (tentative conjecture in science) · tk gipoteza (tentative conjecture in science) · be прыпушчэ́нне (tentative conjecture in science) · bg хипоте́за (tentative conjecture in science) · yue 假說 /假说 (tentative conjecture in science) · tl ipotesis (tentative conjecture in science) · is tilgáta (tentative conjecture in science) · fi hypoteesi (assumption taken to be true) · ko 가정법 (antecedent of a conditional statement) · th สมมุติฐาน (tentative conjecture in science) · yue 假定 (tentative conjecture in science) · id hipotesis (tentative conjecture in science) · nl hypothese (antecedent of a conditional statement) · tr varsayım (tentative conjecture in science) · ps فرضيه (tentative conjecture in science) · tr faraziye (tentative conjecture in science) · oc ipotèsis (tentative conjecture in science) · es hipótesis (assumption taken to be true) · he הַנָּחָה (assumption taken to be true) · ar فَرْضِيَّة (tentative conjecture in science) · ru гипо́теза (tentative conjecture in science) · hy վարկած (tentative conjecture in science) · es hipótesi (assumption taken to be true) · cmn 假設 /假设 (antecedent of a conditional statement) · gl hipótese (antecedent of a conditional statement) · tg гипотеза (tentative conjecture in science) · gl hipótese (assumption taken to be true) · it ipotesi (assumption taken to be true) · hu feltevés (assumption taken to be true) · be прыпушчэ́нне (assumption taken to be true) · hi परिकल्पना (tentative conjecture in science) · mn гипотез (tentative conjecture in science) · uz faraziya (tentative conjecture in science) · tg фарзия (tentative conjecture in science) · kk болжам (tentative conjecture in science) · be гіпо́тэза (tentative conjecture in science) · it ipotesi (tentative conjecture in science) · vi giả thiết (assumption taken to be true) · vi giả định (assumption taken to be true) · pl przypuszczenie (tentative conjecture in science) · km សម្មតិកម្ម (tentative conjecture in science) · vi giả thuyết (tentative conjecture in science) · sh hipotéza (tentative conjecture in science) · uz gipoteza (tentative conjecture in science) · hu hipotézis (tentative conjecture in science) · cmn 假定 (assumption taken to be true) · af hipotese (antecedent of a conditional statement) · tl palagayin (tentative conjecture in science) · sk hypotéza (tentative conjecture in science) · cmn 前提 (assumption taken to be true) · pl hipoteza (tentative conjecture in science) · ckb گریمانە (assumption taken to be true)