Theory

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Theory \The"o*ry\, n.; pl. {Theories}. [F. th['e]orie, L.
     theoria, Gr. ? a beholding, spectacle, contemplation,
     speculation, fr. ? a spectator, ? to see, view. See
     {Theater}.]
     1. A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in
        speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice;


        hypothesis; speculation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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." --Sir W. Hamilton.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any
        science; as, the theory of music.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory
        and practice of medicine.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either
        physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion;
        Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Atomic theory}, {Binary theory}, etc. See under {Atomic},
        {Binary}, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Hypothesis, speculation.
  
     Usage: {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.
            [1913 Webster] Theosoph

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  theory
       n 1: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the
            natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge
            that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a
            specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate
            facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and
            theory"
       2: a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that
          is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain
          facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives
          experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; "he
          proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted
          in chemical practices" [syn: {hypothesis}, {possibility}]
       3: a belief that can guide behavior; "the architect has a
          theory that more is less"; "they killed him on the theory
          that dead men tell no tales"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  92 Moby Thesaurus words for "theory":
     apprehension, assumption, attitude, base, basis, body of theory,
     climate of opinion, common belief, community sentiment, conceit,
     concept, conception, conclusion, conjecture, consensus gentium,
     consideration, estimate, estimation, ethos, explanation, eye,
     fancy, feeling, general belief, grounds, guess, guesswork,
     harmonics, harmony, hunch, hypothesis, idea, image, imago,
     impression, intellectual object, judgment, lights, melodics,
     memory-trace, mental image, mental impression, mind, music,
     music theory, musicality, musicography, musicology, mystique,
     notion, observation, opinion, perception, perhaps,
     personal judgment, point of view, popular belief, position,
     posture, premise, presentiment, presumption, prevailing belief,
     public belief, public opinion, reaction, recept, reflection,
     representation, rhythmics, sentiment, sight, speculation, stance,
     supposal, suppose, supposition, surmise, suspicion,
     tentative explanation, theoretical structure, there, thinking,
     thither, thitherward, thought, understanding, unified theory, view,
     way of thinking, yon, yonder
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  theory n. The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that is
     currently being used to inform a behavior. This usage is a
     generalization and (deliberate) abuse of the technical meaning. "What's
     the theory on fixing this TECO loss?" "What's the theory on dinner
     tonight?" ("Chinatown, I guess.") "What's the current theory on letting
     lusers on during the day?" "The theory behind this change is to fix the
     following well-known screw...."
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  theory
       
          The consensus, idea, plan, story, or set of rules that is
          currently being used to inform a behaviour.  This usage is a
          generalisation and (deliberate) abuse of the technical
          meaning.  "What's the theory on fixing this TECO loss?"
          "What's the theory on dinner tonight?"  ("Chinatown, I
          guess.")  "What's the current theory on letting lusers on
          during the day?"  "The theory behind this change is to fix the
          following well-known screw...."
       
          (1994-12-14)