SCIENTIFIC THEORY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does scientific theory mean? 

• SCIENTIFIC THEORY (noun)
  The noun SCIENTIFIC THEORY has 1 sense:

1. a theory that explains scientific observations

  Familiarity information: SCIENTIFIC THEORY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCIENTIFIC THEORY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A theory that explains scientific observations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

scientific theories must be falsifiable

Hypernyms ("scientific theory" is a kind 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)

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

supersymmetry ((physics) a theory that tries to link the four fundamental forces)

game theory; theory of games ((economics) a theory of competition stated in terms of gains and losses among opposing players)

configurationism; Gestalt psychology ((psychology) a theory of psychology that emphasizes the importance of configurational properties)

functionalism (a psychology based on the assumption that all mental process are useful to an organism in adapting to the environment)

atomism ((psychology) a theory that reduces all mental phenomena to simple elements (sensations and feelings) that form complex ideas by association)

association theory; associationism ((psychology) a theory that association is the basic principle of mental activity)

theory of inheritance ((biology) a theory of how characteristics of one generation are derived from earlier generations)

Ostwald's theory of indicators; theory of indicators ((chemistry) the theory that all indicators are either weak acids or weak bases in which the color of the ionized form is different from the color before dissociation)

evolutionism; theory of evolution; theory of organic evolution ((biology) a scientific theory of the origin of species of plants and animals)

Arrhenius theory of dissociation; theory of dissociation; theory of electrolytic dissociation ((chemistry) theory that describes aqueous solutions in terms of acids (which dissociate to give hydrogen ions) and bases (which dissociate to give hydroxyl ions); the product of an acid and a base is a salt and water)

information theory ((computer science) a statistical theory dealing with the limits and efficiency of information processing)

germ theory ((medicine) the theory that all contagious diseases are caused by microorganisms)

indeterminacy principle; uncertainty principle ((quantum theory) the theory that it is impossible to measure both energy and time (or position and momentum) completely accurately at the same time)

quantum theory ((physics) a physical theory that certain properties occur only in discrete amounts (quanta))

big-bang theory; big bang theory ((cosmology) the theory that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from the cataclysmic explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature)

Einstein's theory of relativity; relativity; relativity theory; theory of relativity ((physics) the theory that space and time are relative concepts rather than absolute concepts)

kinetic theory; kinetic theory of gases ((physics) a theory that gases consist of small particles in random motion)

corpuscular theory; corpuscular theory of light ((physics) the theory that light is transmitted as a stream of particles)

undulatory theory; wave theory; wave theory of light ((physics) the theory that light is transmitted as waves)

cell doctrine; cell theory ((biology) the theory that cells form the fundamental structural and functional units of all living organisms; proposed in 1838 by Matthias Schleiden and by Theodor Schwann)

atomic theory (a theory of the structure of the atom)

organicism (theory that the total organization of an organism rather than the functioning of individual organs is the determinant of life processes)

gravitational theory; Newton's theory of gravitation; theory of gravitation; theory of gravity ((physics) the theory that any two particles of matter attract one another with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them)

continuous creation theory; steady state theory ((cosmology) the theory that the universe maintains a constant average density with matter created to fill the void left by galaxies that are receding from each other)

planetesimal hypothesis ((cosmology) the theory that the solar system was formed by the gravitational accumulation of planetesimals)

nebular hypothesis ((cosmology) the theory that the solar system evolved from a hot gaseous nebula)

Holonyms ("scientific theory" is a part of...):

science; scientific discipline (a particular branch of scientific knowledge)