A.Word.A.Day

[Dave Monroe]

theory

PRONUNCIATION:
THEE-uh-ree, THEER-ee)

MEANING:
noun:
1. A set of propositions used to explain some aspect of the natural
world, one that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed and widely
accepted. For example, Einstein’s theory of relativity or Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution.
2. The body of principles belonging to a field. For example, music theory.
3. A speculation.

ETYMOLOGY:
>From Latin theoria, from Greek theoria (contemplation), from theoros
(spectator), from theorein (to consider, look at), which also gave us
theorem and theater. Earliest documented use: 1597.

NOTES:
In science, a theory is a well-substantiated explanation for some
aspect of the natural world. In everyday use, a theory is a
conjecture. Some people use "just a theory" to discount the theory of
evolution, but don't confuse the scientific use of the word with its
everyday use. If evolution is just a theory then relativity is also
just a theory.

USAGE:
“The theory of evolution explained that every species on earth is
related in some way to every other species; more important, we each
carry a record of that history in our body.”
Michael Specter; A Life of Its Own; The New Yorker; Sep 28, 2009.

“That is a theory that may soon come to be tested.”
China’s Property Market; The Economist (London, UK); May 31, 2014.

See more usage examples of theory in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more
to patient observation than to any other reason. -Isaac Newton,
physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (1642-1727)


http://wordsmith.org/words/theory.html
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