THEORY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Theory

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/θˈɪri/ /θˈiəri/ Listen

noun

Theory n. (pl. theories)

A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation. Note: "This word is employed by English writers in a very loose and improper sense. It is with them usually convertible into hypothesis, and hypothesis is commonly used as another term for conjecture. The terms theory and theoretical are properly used in opposition to the terms practice and practical. In this sense, they were exclusively employed by the ancients; and in this sense, they are almost exclusively employed by the Continental philosophers."

An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.

The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.

The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.

Atomic theory, Binary theory, etc. See under Atomic, Binary, etc.

Synonyms: Hypothesis, speculation. Theory, Hypothesis. A theory is a scheme of the relations subsisting between the parts of a systematic whole; an hypothesis is a tentative conjecture respecting a cause of phenomena.

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Etymology of 'Theory'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Theory" Quotes from Famous Books

... misinterpretations of which I was not conscious at the time. I have no wish to idealise my subject unduly, but it is clear to me, and I hope I have made it clear to others, that Father Payne was a man who had a very definite theory of life and faith, and who at all events lived sincerely and even passionately in the light of his beliefs. Moreover, when he came to put them to the supreme test, the test of death, they did not desert or betray him: he passed on his ...

— Father Payne • Arthur Christopher Benson

... left hanging, Jim. If I go along with you and assume that Bossard was innocent, then Fisher fouled up just as badly as he would have if he'd fluffed the prosecution of a guilty man. Either a man is guilty, or he's innocent. If, according to your theory, the prosecutor knows he's innocent, then he should exonerate the innocent man! If not, he should do ...

— Hail to the Chief • Gordon Randall Garrett

... in detail a scheme for the interchange of students, for periods of a year at a time, between Italian and British Universities after the war. We then turned to modern history and I noticed that he did not respond as much as I had expected to the name of Garibaldi. He held the historical theory that, broadly speaking, there are no really great men, but only lucky ones. He put forward in support of this view the distribution of death, wounds and decorations in this war. This theory of history has in it larger elements of wholesomeness and truth than has, for ...

— With British Guns in Italy - A Tribute to Italian Achievement • Hugh Dalton

... might use Persia as her wedge for operating, with some effect, upon the Affghans; who again might be used as the wedge of Persia for operating upon ourselves, either immediately if circumstances should favour, or mediately through the Seiks and the Beloochees. On this theory we may see a justification for Lord Auckland in allowing some weight to the Persian Shah's siege of Herat. Connected with the alleged intrigues of the Russian agent, (since disavowed,) this movement of the Shah did certainly look very like a basis for that joint machinery ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Vol. 56, No. 346, August, 1844 • Various

... Scoutmaster Ned's theory about camping was to keep open house. If he lacked discipline (which it is to be feared he did) he made up in pep, and the surprises that he was forever springing on the camp were a perpetual joy. I suspect that he was not well versed in his scoutmasters' handbook. He was a sort of human ...

— Pee-wee Harris on the Trail • Percy Keese Fitzhugh

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