hypothesis
Pluralhypotheses
- 1An idea about why something happens that you can test with experiments or careful watching.
Like guessing the answer to a puzzle, then checking to see if you were right.
Her hypothesis was that plants grow faster when they get music.
The class tested the hypothesis that warm water freezes faster than cold water.
Similartheory, explanation, conjecture, proposition, thesis
Note
- 2Something you treat as true for now so you can build an argument or a plan.
Like a 'what if' that you pretend is true while you work things out.
Let's use the hypothesis that fifty people will come, and order food for that many.
She made her plan with the hypothesis that the weather would stay dry.
Similarassumption, theory, guess, supposition, conjecture
Note
- 3The first part of an 'if ... then' sentence: the part that starts with 'if'.
In 'If you heat ice, it melts,' the hypothesis is 'you heat ice.'
The teacher asked us to circle the hypothesis in each 'if ... then' sentence.
Similarantecedent, condition
Oppositeconclusion, consequent
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of hypothesis apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from a Greek word meaning "a placing under," made from parts meaning "below" and "to put." It reached English through French and Latin around 1596.