conjecture - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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, deject, abject, surjection, bijection, interject.

Compare typologically Russian прики́дывать (prikídyvatʹ) (akin to кида́ть (kidátʹ)).

conjecture (countable and uncountable, plural conjectures)

  1. (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.
  2. (formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis.
    The physicist used his conjecture about subatomic particles to design an experiment.
  3. (mathematics, linguistics) A statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven.
  4. (obsolete) Interpretation of signs and omens.

statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven — see also supposition,‎ speculation,‎ theory

conjecture (third-person singular simple present conjectures, present participle conjecturing, simple past and past participle conjectured)

  1. (formal, intransitive) To guess; to venture an unproven idea.
    I do not know if it is true; I am simply conjecturing here.
    • 1952 December, 'Mercury', “Modern French Locomotive Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 804:
      What could have been done by such a machine downhill can only be conjectured, for the maximum speed was restricted rigidly to 80 m.p.h.
  2. (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)
    • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, 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.

Learned borrowing from Latin coniectūra.

conjecture f (plural conjectures)

  1. conjecture
    Near-synonyms: hypothèse, supputation

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

conjecture

  1. inflection of conjecturer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

conjectūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of conjectūrus

conjecture

  1. inflection of conjecturar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative