Webster's English Dictionary

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hypothesis

hy.poth.e.sis \hi--'pa:th-*-s*s\ \-*-.se-z\ n or hy.poth.e.ses [Gk, fr. 
   hypotithenai to put under, suppose, fr. hypo- + tithena] pl i to put - more 
   at DO 1: a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its 
   logical or  empirical consequences 2a: an assumption or concession made for 
   the sake of argument  2b: an interpretation of a practical situation or 
   condition taken as the gr ound for actioninference from scientific data 
   that explains a principle operating in nature. HYPOTHESIS implies 
   insufficiency of presently attainable evidence and therefore a tentative 
   explanation; THEORY implies a greater range of evidence and greater 
   likelihood of truth; LAW implies a statement of order and relation in 
   nature that has been found to be invariable under the same conditions SYN 
   syn HYPOTHESIS, THEORY, LAW mean a formula derived by