| conjecture, | scheme, | supposition, | system, |
| guess, | speculation, | surmise, | theory. |
A hypothesis is a statement of what is deemed possibly true, assumed and reasoned upon as if certainly true, with a view of reaching truth not yet surely known; especially, in the sciences, a hypothesis is a comprehensive tentative explanation of certain phenomena, which is meant to include all other facts of the same class, and which is assumed as true till there has been opportunity to bring all related facts into comparison; if the hypothesis explains all the facts, it is regarded as verified; till then it is regarded as a working hypothesis, that is, one that may answer for present practical purposes. A hypothesis may be termed a comprehensive guess. A guess is a swift conclusion from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while one confessedly lacks material for absolute certainty. A conjecture is more methodical than a guess, while a supposition is still slower and more settled; a conjecture, like a guess, is preliminary and tentative; a supposition is more nearly final; a surmise is more floating and visionary, and often sinister; as, a surmise that a stranger may be a pickpocket. Theory is used of the mental coordination of facts and principles, that may or may not prove correct; a machine may be perfect in theory, but useless in fact. Scheme may be used as nearly equivalent to theory, but is more frequently applied to proposed action, and in the sense of a somewhat visionary plan. A speculation may be wholly of the brain, resting upon[206] no facts worthy of consideration; system is the highest of these terms, having most of assurance and fixity; a system unites many facts, phenomena, or doctrines into an orderly and consistent whole; we speak of a system of theology, of the Copernican system of the universe. Compare [SYSTEM].
Antonyms:
| certainty, | demonstration, | discovery, | evidence, | fact, | proof. |
IDEA.
Synonyms:
| apprehension, | design, | impression, | plan, |
| archetype, | fancy, | judgment, | purpose, |
| belief, | fantasy, | model, | sentiment, |
| conceit, | ideal, | notion, | supposition, |
| concept, | image, | opinion, | theory, |
| conception, | imagination, | pattern, | thought. |
Idea is in Greek a form or an image. The word signified in early philosophical use the archetype or primal image which the Platonic philosophy supposed to be the model or pattern that existing objects imperfectly embody. This high sense has nearly disappeared from the word idea, and has been largely appropriated by ideal, tho something of the original meaning still appears when in theological or philosophical language we speak of the ideas of God. The present popular use of idea makes it to signify any product of mental apprehension or activity, considered as an object of knowledge or thought; this coincides with the primitive sense at but a single point—that an idea is mental as opposed to anything substantial or physical; thus, almost any mental product, as a belief, conception, design, opinion, etc., may now be called an idea. Compare [FANCY]; [IDEAL].
Antonyms: