hypothesis

Term: hypothesis

Origin:  υπόθεσις/hypothesis (=assumption)

υπό/hypo(=under) + θέσις/thesis(=point, proposition) > verb τίθημι/tithimi(=set, put, to place)

Coined: since 1596, from Middle French “hypothese”

Definition:

An assumption made for the sake of argument

Comments:

The term "hypothesis" has different meaning from the term "theory" although they often used synonymously. The main difference between a theory and a hypothesis is that theory predicts events in general terms and it is generally accepted while a hypothesis makes a specific prediction that has yet to be tested. One definition of a theory would be that it is an accepted hypothesis.