[hy.poth.e.sis] n, pl -e.ses [Gk, fr. hypotithenai to put under, suppose, fr. hypo- + tithenai to put--more at do] (ca. 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 syn 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".