Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
theorycraft en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Hellenic *tʰáwā
Ancient Greek θέᾱ (théā)
Proto-Indo-European *wer-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.
Ancient Greek ὁράω (horáō)
Ancient Greek *θεᾱ-(ϝ)ορός, *θεη-(ϝ)ορός (*theā-(w)orós, *theē-(w)orós)
Ancient Greek θεωρός (theōrós)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Proto-Hellenic *-íā
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría)bor.
Late Latin theōrialbor.
Middle French théoriebor.
English theory
Proto-Germanic *krafjaną
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Germanic *-þuz
Proto-Germanic *kraftuz
Proto-West Germanic *kraftu
Old English cræft
Middle English craft
English craft
English theorycraft
From theory + craft.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Theorycrafting.
Forms
theorycraft en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Hellenic *tʰáwā
Ancient Greek θέᾱ (théā)
Proto-Indo-European *wer-der.
Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ-der.
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.
Ancient Greek ὁράω (horáō)
Ancient Greek *θεᾱ-(ϝ)ορός, *θεη-(ϝ)ορός (*theā-(w)orós, *theē-(w)orós)
Ancient Greek θεωρός (theōrós)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Proto-Hellenic *-íā
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría)bor.
Late Latin theōrialbor.
Middle French théoriebor.
English theory
Proto-Germanic *krafjaną
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Germanic *-þuz
Proto-Germanic *kraftuz
Proto-West Germanic *kraftu
Old English cræft
Middle English craft
English craft
English theorycraft
From theory + craft.
Meanings
-
To analyze (especially mathematically) the underlying mechanics of a video game in order to optimize or minimax one's gameplay.
Sometimes, the person asking only has a vague understanding of what it means to “theorycraft.” Most players already know that theorycrafting produces numbers that can be used to evaluate performance and ask questions, of course. But what most players don’t know is how those numbers are produced from beginning to end.
2014 July 15, Theck, “TC101: Intro to Theorycrafting”, in Sacred Duty, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2025:
Forms
Deriveds
theorycrafter