theory
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈθɪə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈθɪ.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈθi.ə.ɹi/
note: without the mirror–nearer merger
ipa: /ˈθɪɚ.i/
note: without the mirror–nearer merger
ipa: /ˈθi.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈθi.ɹɪ/
ipa: /ˈθi.ɹe/
ipa: /ˈθiə.ɹi/
note: East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /ˈθɛː.ɹi/
rhymes: -ɪəɹi
rhymes: -iːəɹi
Forms: form: theories
Etymology: From Middle French théorie, from Late Latin theōria, from Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría, “contemplation, divine perspective, speculation, a looking at, a seeking”), from θεωρέω (theōréō, “I look at, view, see, consider, examine”), from θεωρός (theōrós, “spectator”), from θέα (théa, “view, perspective, sight”) + ὁράω (horáō, “I see, look”) [i. e. θέαν ὁράω (théan horáō, “see, look at a view; survey + genitive”)].
Senses: examples: text: As they encrease the hatred of vice in some, so doe they enlarge the theory of wickednesse in all.
ref: 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, VII.19:
glosses: A description of an event or system that is considered to be accurate.
examples: text: In its most proper acceptation, theory means the completed result of philosophical induction from experience.
ref: 1843, John Stuart Mill, ""A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, ..., Bk V, Ch 7
text: Does this mean, then, that there can be no such thing as a theory of literature?
ref: 1990, Tony Bennett, Outside Literature, page 139:
text: It was only when Einstein's theory of relativity was published in 1915 that physicists could show that Mercury's "anomaly" was actually because Newton's gravitational theory was incomplete.
ref: 2002 May 23, Duncan Steel, The Guardian:
text: The world would need additional decades [...] before the Big Bang would begin to move from interesting idea to established theory.
ref: 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 118:
text: Scientists and creationists are understanding the word "theory" in two very different senses. Evolution is a theory in the same sense as the heliocentric theory. In neither case should the word "only" be used, as in "only a theory".
ref: 2009, Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, Bantam, page 10:
text: Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
ref: 2012 January 23, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2013, page 86:
topics: sciences
glosses: A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena and correctly predicts new facts or phenomena not previously observed, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
examples: text: Lopukhov wrote a number of books and articles on ballet theory, as well as his memoirs.
ref: 1998, Elizabeth Souritz, The Great History of Russian Ballet:
glosses: The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
examples: text: Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.
text: It's just a theory I have, and I wonder if women would agree. But don't men say a lot about themselves when a short-skirted woman slides out of a car or chair?
ref: 1999, Wes DeMott, Vapors:
text: The theory is that by stripping costs to the bone, they are able to offer ludicrously low fares.
ref: 2003 June 21, Sean Coughlan, The Guardian:
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
examples: text: A theory is consistent if it has a model.
topics: human-sciences
logic
mathematics
philosophy
sciences
glosses: A set of axioms together with all statements derivable from them; or, a set of statements which are deductively closed. Equivalently, a formal language plus a set of axioms (from which can then be derived theorems). The statements may be required to all be bound (i.e., to have no free variables).
examples: Near-synonym: joseki
qualifier: chess and similar games
glosses: The standardization and study of fixed sequences of moves, especially in the opening phase of a game.
glosses: Mental conception; reflection, consideration.
glosses: A hypothesis or conjecture.
Hyponyms: AAK theory
AAK-theory
abrupt appearance theory
abstinence theory
abstract analytic number theory
acoustic theory
action theory
activity theory
additive number theory
Ahlfors theory
algebraic graph theory
algebraic K-theory
algebraic number theory
algorithmic information theory
algorithmic number theory
alive internet theory
analytic number theory
antenna theory
approximation theory
aquatic ape theory
arbitrage pricing theory
AR theory
assemblage theory
atomic theory
attainable region theory
attribution theory
auction theory
Auslander-Reiten theory
auteur theory
autotheory
BCS theory
bifurcation theory
binary theory
Bohr theory
bow-wow theory
bowwow theory
broken windows theory
broken window theory
burnt toast theory
cable theory
catastrophe theory
category theory
cell theory
chaos theory
character theory
Chern-Simons theory
choice theory
circuit theory
classical field theory
cobweb theory
cockroach theory
coding theory
coincidence theory
collision theory
communication accommodation theory
communication theory
complexity theory
computability theory
computational complexity theory
computational number theory
computation theory
conspiracy theory
continuum theory
control theory
coorbit theory
cosmological perturbation theory
counterpart theory
countertheory
critical race theory
critical theory
crystal field theory
cuckoo theory
cultivation theory
cybertheory
dead internet theory
de Broglie-Bohm theory
Debye-Hückel theory
decision theory
dependency theory
ding-dong theory
divine command theory
DLVO theory
domain theory
domino theory
Donaldson-Thomas theory
Dow theory
dual-coding theory
dynamo theory
ecotheory
e-learning theory
emission theory
endosymbiotic theory
epitheory
ergodic theory
estimation theory
ethnotheory
evolutionary theory
extreme value theory
fast leg theory
field theory
fish-hook theory
flypaper theory
Fredholm theory
fringe theory
Galois theory
game theory
gap theory
gauge theory
gender theory
germ theory
germ theory of disease
giant impact theory
global workspace theory
grand theory
grand unification theory
grand unified theory
graph theory
greater fool theory
great man theory
great replacement theory
Green Lantern theory
grounded theory
group theory
Heim theory
hemline theory
Hodge theory
homotopy theory
horseshoe theory
iceberg theory
imbibition theory
infinity theory
information theory
integral theory
inter-universal Teichmüller theory
invariant theory
ironic process theory
James-Lange theory
Kaluza-Klein theory
kinetic theory of gases
knot theory
K-theory
labor theory of value
labor-value theory
labor value theory
labour theory of value
labour value theory
labour-value theory
lattice theory
leg theory
lesbian dance theory
ligand field theory
literary theory
locale theory
LQG theory
lunar theory
macrotheory
madman theory
measure theory
metatheory
microtheory
minitheory
mirror theory
model theory
module theory
molecular orbital theory
Morse theory
motor theory
M-theory
music theory
musical theory
Nevanlinna theory
nontheory
novelty theory
nudge theory
number theory
operator theory
opponent-process theory
optimality theory
orange peel theory
Out of India theory
particle theory
pattern theory
Peccei-Quinn theory
perceptual control theory
percolation theory
perturbation theory
phlogiston theory
pooh-pooh theory
potential theory
probability theory
proof theory
prototype theory
psychotheory
quantity theory of money
quantum field theory
quantum information theory
quantum theory
quark theory
queer theory
queueing theory
queuing theory
r/K selection theory
Ramsey theory
rational choice theory
recapitulation theory
recursion theory
Regge theory
renewal theory
replacement theory
representation theory
rimland theory
ring theory
ruin theory
Sahara pump theory
sandwich theory
scheme theory
screw theory
seduction theory
set theory
sheaf theory
sieve theory
signal theory
situation theory
size theory
Skopos theory
social theory
spectral theory
spoon theory
standard theory
standpoint theory
steady state theory
stoned ape theory
stone tape theory
Strauss-Howe generational theory
string theory
Sturm-Liouville theory
subtheory
supposition theory
swollen assets theory
synthetic theory
systems theory
ta-ta theory
terrain theory
theory of abrupt appearance
theory of everything
theory of games
theory of gravity
theory of mind
theory of music
theory of musical equilibration
theory of relativity
theory of truth
theory of value
Theory X
Theory Y
thing theory
toy theory
transcendental number theory
type theory
unexpected red theory
value theory
veneer theory
virtue theory
vortex theory
wave theory
Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory
white inflation theory
white replacement theory
X-bar theory
X′ theory
Yang-Mills theory
yo-heave-ho theory
yo-he-ho theory
Zermelo-Fraenk set theory
Zermelo set theory
Meronyms: sense: in logic
word: axioms
Derived terms: intertheory
in theory
intratheory
theoretic
theorist
theorycel
theorycraft
theoryhead
theoryism
theory-laden
theoryless
time-preference theory of interest
Related terms: theorem
theoretical
theorise
theorize
axiom
postulate
proposition