HYPOTHESIS (hypotheses)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: hypotheses   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hypothesis mean? 

• HYPOTHESIS (noun)
  The noun HYPOTHESIS has 3 senses:

1. a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations

2. a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena

3. a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

  Familiarity information: HYPOTHESIS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HYPOTHESIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hypothesis" is a kind of...):

proposal (something proposed (such as a plan or assumption))

Derivation:

hypothesize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

hypothesis; possibility; theory

Context example:

he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices

Hypernyms ("hypothesis" is a kind of...):

concept; conception; construct (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hypothesis"):

hypothetical (a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.)

gemmule (the physically discrete element that Darwin proposed as responsible for heredity)

framework; model; theoretical account (a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process)

conjecture; speculation (a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence))

assumption; supposal; supposition (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)

historicism (a theory that social and cultural events are determined by history)

Holonyms ("hypothesis" is a part of...):

theory (a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena)

Derivation:

hypothecate; hypothesize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

conjecture; guess; hypothesis; speculation; supposition; surmisal; surmise

Hypernyms ("hypothesis" is a kind of...):

opinion; view (a message expressing a belief about something; the expression of a belief that is held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hypothesis"):

divination (successful conjecture by unusual insight or good luck)

Derivation:

hypothecate; hypothesize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

hypothetical (based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence)

 Context examples 

"The meaning of what we've discovered is uncertain at this point," Yewdell says, but we have an intriguing hypothesis.

(Genes Can be Read in Different Ways, NIH, US)

One hypothesis is that mutant huntingtin moves into the nucleus and interferes with transcriptional activation involving the transcriptional coactivator CBP (CREB binding protein) and other coactivators.

(Inhibition of Huntington's Disease Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Another hypothesis for the HBx mechanism of action is that HBx increases calcium release into the cytoplasm.

(HBx Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test uses the ranks of data to test the hypothesis that two samples of sizes m and n might come from the same population.

(Mann-Whitney Test, NCI Thesaurus)

The regulation of prodynorphin expression by DREAM also leads to the hypothesis that DREAM is involved in pain signaling.

(Pain Repression Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Scientists have explored hypotheses including potential differences in how children's lungs and airways develop when they are overweight, and inflammatory changes in the body due to obesity.

(Obesity May Be to Blame for Quarter of Asthma Cases in Children, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The insights gained through GoMiner can generate hypotheses to guide additional research.

(GoMiner, NCI Thesaurus)

It resembles a cyanobacterium from which, on the endosymbiont hypothesis, it might be derived.

(Chloroplast, NCI Thesaurus)

A study design which includes a prospectively planned opportunity for modification of one or more specified aspects of the study design and/or hypotheses based on analysis of data, usually interim data.

(Adaptive Design, NCI Thesaurus)

A new model on how stars are formed has added weight to the hypothesis that most – if not all – stars are born in a litter with at least one sibling.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)