Standard Lemma guide

hypothesize

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /haɪˈpɒθ.ɪ.saɪz/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /hɪˈpɒθ.ɪ.saɪz/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /həˈpɒθ.ɪ.saɪz/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-ə.saɪz/
  • General-American, dialectal: /haɪˈpɑ.θəˌsaɪz/ of Canada
  • General-American, dialectal: [hʌɪˈpɑ.θəˌsaɪz] of Canada; Canadian raising
  • Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, dialectal: /haɪˈpɒθ.əˌsaɪz/ of the US
  • Canada, dialectal: [hʌɪˈpɒθ.əˌsaɪz] of the US; Canadian raising
  • Australian: /hɑeˈpɔθ.ə.sɑez/
  • New-Zealand: /haɪˈpɒθ.ə.saɪz/
  • New-Zealand: [hɑe̯ˈpɔ̟θ.ə.sɑe̯z]
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AY0 P AA1 TH AH0 S AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To assume or assert tentatively on uncertain grounds.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: British, English, Oxford, US, ambitransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hypotheticate, guess, arread, assume, fancy, conject, conjecture, daresay, dope, foreguess, go out on a limb, guesstimate, hunch, hypothesize, imagine, infer, overhope, posit, postulate, presume, reckon, speculate, suppose, surmise, suspect, take a stab at, take for granted, take something as read, theorize, ween

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: speculate, theorize, theorise, conjecture, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expect, anticipate

Narrower terms: reconstruct, construct, retrace, explicate, formulate, develop

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English hypothesis Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English hypothesize From hypothesis + -ize.

Across languages

Translations

33 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: hamendësoj — to believe or assert
  • Albanian: supozoj — to believe or assert
  • Bulgarian: предполагам (predpolagam) — to believe or assert
  • Chinese Mandarin: 假設 /假设 (jiǎshè) — to believe or assert
  • Chinese Mandarin: 推測 /推测 (tuīcè) — to believe or assert
  • Czech: hypotetizovat — to believe or assert
  • Danish: hypotetisere — to believe or assert
  • Finnish: jossitella — to believe or assert
  • Finnish: arvailla — to believe or assert
  • Finnish: arvuutella — to believe or assert
  • French: émettre l'hypothèse — to believe or assert
  • French: faire l'hypothèse — to believe or assert
  • French: supposer — to believe or assert
  • German: vermuten — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: setja fram tilgátu — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: leggja fram tilgátu — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: gefa sér — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: setja sem svo að — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: gera ráð fyrir — to believe or assert
  • Icelandic: ganga út frá — to believe or assert
  • Italian: ipotizzare — to believe or assert
  • Japanese: 仮定する (katei suru) — to believe or assert
  • Māori: marohi — to believe or assert
  • Māori: mārohirohi — to believe or assert
  • Portuguese: supor — to believe or assert
  • Romanian: emite ipoteze — to believe or assert
  • Romanian: face ipoteze — to believe or assert
  • Slovak: hypotetizovať — to believe or assert
  • Spanish: hipotetizar — to believe or assert
  • Swedish: hypotetisera — to believe or assert
  • Ukrainian: будувати гіпотезу (buduvaty) — to believe or assert
  • Ukrainian: висувати гіпотезу (vysuvaty) — to believe or assert
  • Ukrainian: робити припущення (robyty) — to believe or assert