conjecture
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See also: conjecturé
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French, from Latin coniectūra (“a guess”), from coniectus, perfect passive participle of cōniciō (“throw or cast together; guess”), from con- (“together”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”); see jet. Compare adjective, eject, inject, project, reject, subject, object, trajectory.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /kənˈd͡ʒɛk.t͡ʃə(ɹ)/
- (US) IPA(key): /kənˈd͡ʒɛk.t͡ʃɚ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
conjecture (countable and uncountable, plural conjectures)
- (formal) A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess.
- I explained it, but it is pure conjecture whether he understood, or not.
- (formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis.
- The physicist used his conjecture about subatomic particles to design an experiment.
- (mathematics, linguistics) A statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven.
- (obsolete) Interpretation of signs and omens.
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:supposition
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
unproven statement; guess
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supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis
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statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven
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Verb[edit]
conjecture (third-person singular simple present conjectures, present participle conjecturing, simple past and past participle conjectured)
- (formal, intransitive) To guess; to venture an unproven idea.
- I do not know if it is true; I am simply conjecturing here.
- (transitive) To infer on slight evidence; to guess at.
- February 22, 1685, Robert South, All Contingences under the Direction of God's Providence (sermon preached at Westminster Abbey)
- 1842, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Lady Anne Granard, volume 1, page 243:
- "Most likely he who is the shorter of the two;—no! he goes in the first, and is, of course, the eldest; but we have no time for conjecturing now."
- Human reason can then, at the best, but conjecture what will be.
Translations[edit]
to guess
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Further reading[edit]
- conjecture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “conjecture”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- conjecture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Latin coniectūra.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
conjecture f (plural conjectures)
Usage notes[edit]
Not to be confused with conjoncture.
Verb[edit]
conjecture
- inflection of conjecturer:
Further reading[edit]
- “conjecture”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin[edit]
Participle[edit]
conjectūre
Portuguese[edit]
Verb[edit]
conjecture
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of conjecturar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of conjecturar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of conjecturar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of conjecturar
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(H)yeh₁-
- English terms derived from Old French
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