Adjacent Words

Conjecture definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONJECTURE, n. [L., See Conjector.]
1. Literally, a casting or throwing together of possible or probable events; or a casting of the mind to something future, or something past but unknown; a guess, formed on a supposed possibility or probability of a fact, or on slight evidence; preponderance of opinion without proof; surmise. We speak of future or unknown things by conjecture, and of probable or unfounded conjectures.
2. Idea; notion.
CONJECTURE, v.t. To guess; to judge by guess, or by the probability or the possibility of a fact, or by very slight evidence; to form an opinion at random. What will be the issue of a war, we may conjecture, but cannot know. He conjectured that some misfortune had happened.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence); "speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he dismissed it as mere conjecture" [syn: speculation, conjecture]
2: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence [syn: guess, conjecture, supposition, surmise, surmisal, speculation, hypothesis]
3: reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from incomplete evidence v
1: to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds; "Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps" [syn: speculate, theorize, theorise, conjecture, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin conjectura, from conjectus, past participle of conicere, literally, to throw together, from com- + jacere to throw — more at jet Date: 14th century 1. obsolete a. interpretation of omens b. supposition 2. a. inference from defective or presumptive evidence b. a conclusion deduced by surmise or guesswork c. a proposition (as in mathematics) before it has been proved or disproved II. verb (-tured; conjecturing) Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to arrive at or deduce by conjecture ; guess <scientists conjecturing that a disease is caused by a defective gene> 2. to make conjectures as to <conjecture the meaning of a statement> intransitive verb to form conjectures • conjecturer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a the formation of an opinion on incomplete information; guessing. b an opinion or conclusion reached in this way. 2 a (in textual criticism) the guessing of a reading not in the text. b a proposed reading. --v. 1 tr. & intr. guess. 2 tr. (in textual criticism) propose (a reading). Derivatives: conjecturable adj. Etymology: ME f. OF conjecture or L conjectura f. conjicere (as com-, jacere throw)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Conjecture Con*jec"ture (; 135?), n. [L. conjectura, fr. conjicere, conjectum, to throw together, infer, conjecture; con- + jacere to throw: cf. F. conjecturer. See Jet a shooting forth.] An opinion, or judgment, formed on defective or presumptive evidence; probable inference; surmise; guess; suspicion. He [Herodotus] would thus have corrected his first loose conjecture by a real study of nature. --Whewell. Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Conjecture Con*jec"ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conjectured; p. pr. & vb. n. Conjecturing.] [Cf. F. conjecturer. Cf. Conject.] To arrive at by conjecture; to infer on slight evidence; to surmise; to guess; to form, at random, opinions concerning. Human reason can then, at the best, but conjecture what will be. --South.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Conjecture Con*jec"ture, v. i. To make conjectures; to surmise; to guess; to infer; to form an opinion; to imagine.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(conjectures, conjecturing, conjectured) 1. A conjecture is a conclusion that is based on information that is not certain or complete. (FORMAL) That was a conjecture, not a fact... There are several conjectures... The attitudes of others were matters of conjecture although there were plenty of rumours about how individuals had behaved. = surmise N-VAR 2. When you conjecture, you form an opinion or reach a conclusion on the basis of information that is not certain or complete. (FORMAL) He conjectured that some individuals may be able to detect major calamities... This may be true or partly true; we are all conjecturing here. = surmise VERB: V that, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Supposition, surmise, guess, hypothesis, theory. II. v. a. Surmise, guess, suppose, divine, suspect. III. v. n. Surmise, guess, suppose, suspect, fancy, dare say, take it, hazard the conjecture.

Moby Thesaurus

assume, assumption, axiom, believe, blind guess, bold conjecture, conceive, conclude, deem, estimate, expect, fancy, feel, gather, give a guess, glean, guess, guesswork, hazard a conjecture, hunch, hypothesis, imagine, infer, inference, judge, perhaps, postulate, postulation, postulatum, premise, presume, presumption, presupposal, presupposition, pretend, proposition, risk assuming, rough guess, set of postulates, shot, speculation, stab, supposal, suppose, supposing, supposition, surmise, suspect, take for granted, tentatively suggest, thesis, think, unverified supposition, venture a guess, wild guess, working hypothesis