theory
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
theory/ˈθɪəri/
▶noun (pl. theories)
- 1 a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
■ an idea accounting for or justifying something.
- 2 a set of principles on which an activity is based: a theory of education.
■ Mathematics a collection of propositions illustrating the principles of a subject.
– phrases
in theory in an ideal or hypothetical situation.
in theory in an ideal or hypothetical situation.
– origin C16: via late L. from Gk theōria ‘contemplation, speculation’.
'theory' also found in these Oxford entries:
actant
- advance
- analysis
- apologetic
- apologetics
- aporia
- archetype
- argue
- associationism
- atomic theory
- axiomatize
- Baconian
- behaviourism
- brane
- butterfly effect
- catastrophe theory
- catastrophism
- chaos theory
- cohere
- coherent
- communism
- conceptualism
- connectionism
- conspiracist
- conspiracy theory
- construct
- Copernican system
- correspondence principle
- corroborate
- cosmology
- critical theory
- Darwinism
- decision theory
- dialectical materialism
- domino effect
- domino theory
- dramaturgy
- dynamism
- education
- egoism
- empirical
- empiricism
- entropy
- epistemology
- erect
- Eros
- exceptionalism
- existentialism
- explode
- exponent
