hypothesis
nounUK /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/ · US [haɪˈpʰɑθəsɪs]
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.
1
Sciences A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem and that can be tested by further observation, investigation, or experimentation.
- 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:
- 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
2
General An assumption taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation.
3
Grammar, Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences The antecedent of a conditional statement.
- Derived terms
56 terms
alternative hypothesis, aquatic ape hypothesis, Avogadro's hypothesis, berserker hypothesis, conspiracy hypothesis, continuum hypothesis, cosmic censorship hypothesis, counterhypothesis, critical brain hypothesis, dark forest hypothesis, documentary hypothesis, efficient market hypothesis, ergodic hypothesis, expectations hypothesis, Fisher hypothesis, five-minute hypothesis, Gaia hypothesis, generalized continuum hypothesis, God hypothesis, Griesbach hypothesis, Habakkuk hypothesis, hypothesist, hypothesize, hypothetic, hypothetical, hypothetically, induction hypothesis, inductive hypothesis, interface hypothesis, just-world hypothesis, level-ordering hypothesis, mafia hypothesis, Medea hypothesis, Monro-Kellie hypothesis, multihypothesis, null hypothesis, Omphalos hypothesis, Out of India hypothesis, ovulatory shift hypothesis, permanent income hypothesis, Prout's hypothesis, Rare Earth hypothesis, Red Queen hypothesis, Riemann hypothesis, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, Schinzel's hypothesis H, sexy son hypothesis, simulation hypothesis, subhypothesis, swaddling hypothesis, swoon hypothesis, trickle-down hypothesis, trickle down hypothesis, Wellhausen's hypothesis, working hypothesis, zombie hypothesis