conjecture

con·jec·ture

Use conjecture in a sentence

noun

The definition of a conjecture is a theory.
An example of conjecture is the belief that climate change will result in sea levels rising.

verb

Conjecture means to make a guess at something.
An example of conjecture is a scientist coming up with a theory about something.

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"conjecture." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture>.

APA Style

conjecture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture

conjecture

an inferring, theorizing, or predicting from incomplete or uncertain evidence; guesswork: an editorial full of conjecture
an inference, theory, or prediction based on guesswork; guess
Obs. occult divination

Origin of conjecture

Middle English from Classical Latin conjectura, a putting together, guess, inference from conjectus, past participle of conjicere, to throw together, guess from com-, together + jacere, to throw: see jet

transitive verb

-·tured, -·tur·ing

to arrive at or propose by conjecture; guess

to make a conjecture

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Link to this page

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MLA Style

"conjecture." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture>.

APA Style

conjecture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture

conjecture

noun

Opinion or judgment based on inconclusive or incomplete evidence; guesswork.
An opinion or conclusion based on guesswork: The commentators made various conjectures about the outcome of the next election.

verb

con·jec·tured, con·jec·tur·ing, con·jec·tures

verb

transitive

To judge or conclude by conjecture; guess: “From the comparative silence below … I conjectured that Mr Rochester was now at liberty” ( Charlotte Brontë )

verb

intransitive

To make a conjecture.

Origin of conjecture

Middle English from Old French from Latin coniectūra from coniectus past participle of conicere to infer com- com- iacere to throw ; see yē- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

con·jec′tur·a·ble
adjective

con·jec′tur·al
adjective

con·jec′tur·al·ly
adverb

con·jec′tur·er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"conjecture." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 February 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture>.

APA Style

conjecture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Conjecture

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural conjectures)

(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.
(formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis.
The physicist used his conjecture about subatomic particles to design an experiment.
(mathematics, philology) A statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven.

Verb

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

(formal, intransitive) To guess; to venture an unproven idea.
I do not know if it is true; I am simply conjecturing here.

Origin

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.