n.
Pronunciation: h ī - ' pä-th ə -s ə s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -e · ses \ - ˌ s ē z \
Etymology: Greek, from hypotithenai to put under, suppose, from hypo- + tithenai to put ― more at DO
Date: circa 1656
1 a : an assumption or concession made for the sake of argument b : an interpretation of a practical situation or condition taken as the ground for action
2 : a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences
3 : the antecedent clause of a conditional statement
synonyms HYPOTHESIS , THEORY , LAW mean a formula derived by inference from scientific data that explains a principle operating in nature. HYPOTHESIS implies insufficient evidence to provide more than a tentative explanation <a hypothesis explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs>. THEORY implies a greater range of evidence and greater likelihood of truth <the theory of evolution>. LAW implies a statement of order and relation in nature that has been found to be invariable under the same conditions <the law of gravitation>.