conjecture

== English == === Etymology === 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)). === Pronunciation === (non-rhotic) (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃə/, [kʰənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃə] (General Australian) IPA(key): /kənˈd͡ʒekt͡ʃə/, [kʰənˈd͡ʒekt͡ʃə] (rhotic) (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /kənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃɚ/, [kʰənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃɚ] ~ [kʰənˈd͡ʒɛkt͡ʃɹ̩] Rhymes: -ɛkt͡ʃə(ɹ) Hyphenation: con‧jec‧ture === Noun === conjecture (countable and uncountable, plural conjectures) (formal) A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess. (formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis. (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 ==== See also Thesaurus:supposition ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === 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. (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) ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “conjecture”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “conjecture”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. “conjecture”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. == French == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kɔ̃.ʒɛk.tyʁ/ === Etymology 1 === Learned borrowing from Latin coniectūra. ==== Noun ==== conjecture f (plural conjectures) conjecture Near-synonyms: hypothèse, supputation ===== Usage notes ===== Not to be confused with conjoncture. ===== Derived terms ===== conjecturer ==== Further reading ==== “conjecture”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Verb ==== conjecture inflection of conjecturer: first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive second-person singular imperative == Latin == === Participle === conjectūre vocative masculine singular of conjectūrus == Portuguese == === Verb === conjecture inflection of conjecturar: first/third-person singular present subjunctive third-person singular imperative