Hypothesise

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /haɪˈpɒθəsaɪz/

Definitions

1. To formulate or suggest a possible explanation based on limited evidence for further investigation
2. To put forward a tentative theory or assumption meant to be tested through study or experiment
3. To create an idea or supposition as a starting point for reasoning or research

Etymology: The ending traces back through Ancient Greek "-ízein", a verb-forming element that Late Latin took up as "-izare", passed on through Middle French "-iser", and entered Middle English as "-isen". So the English "-ise" on "hypothesise" is a single piece of machinery that has been handed from language to language for well over a thousand years, and it was never meant to name anything itself. It simply turns a noun into an action, as in "modernise" or "realise". The noun underneath is "hypothesis", from the Greek "hupothesis", meaning something placed under, a foundation or base. Its literal sense is a thing laid down beneath an argument, which is why the modern meaning, a provisional proposition to be tested, still carries the idea of a supporting base that the rest of the reasoning will rest on. To hypothesise, then, is to lay down such a foundation and see whether it holds.

Synonyms: theorize, speculate, postulate, propose, suggest