different between conclusion vs conjecture

English

Alternative forms

• concl. (shortening)

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French conclusion, from Latin concl?si?, from the past participle stem of concl?dere (“to conclude”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?klu???n/
• Rhymes: -u???n

Noun

conclusion (plural conclusions)

1. The end, finish, close or last part of something.
   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     A flourish of trumpets announced the conclusion of the contest.

2. The outcome or result of a process or act.
3. A decision reached after careful thought.
4. (logic) In an argument or syllogism, the proposition that follows as a necessary consequence of the premises.
5. (obsolete) An experiment, or something from which a conclusion may be drawn.
6. (law) The end or close of a pleading, for example, the formal ending of an indictment, "against the peace", etc.
7. (law) An estoppel or bar by which a person is held to a particular position.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (end): endpoint, terminus; see also Thesaurus: finish
• (end of literary work): epilogue, postamble; see also Thesaurus: afterword

Antonyms

• (end): beginning, initiation, start; see also Thesaurus: beginning

Coordinate terms

• (in logic): premise

Related terms

• conclude
• conclusive
• conclusively
• conclusiveness

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin concl?si?, from the past participle stem of concl?dere (“conclude”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.kly.zj??/

Noun

conclusion f (plural conclusions)

1. conclusion

Related terms

• conclure

Anagrams

• concluions

Further reading

• “conclusion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Noun

conclusion (plural conclusiones)

1. conclusion

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin concl?si?.

Pronunciation

Noun

conclusion f (plural conclusions)

1. conclusion

Related terms

• conclure

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin coniect?ra (“a guess”), from coniectus, perfect passive participle of c?nici? (“throw or cast together; guess”), from con- (“together”) + iaci? (“throw, hurl”); see jet. Compare adjective, eject, inject, project, reject, subject, object, trajectory.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k?n?d???k.t???(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?n?d???k.t???/

Noun

conjecture (countable and uncountable, plural conjectures)

1. (formal) A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess.

   I explained it, but it is pure conjecture whether he understood, or not.

2. (formal) A supposition based upon incomplete evidence; a hypothesis.

   The physicist used his conjecture about subatomic particles to design an experiment.

3. (mathematics, linguistics) A statement likely to be true based on available evidence, but which has not been formally proven.
4. (obsolete) Interpretation of signs and omens.

Synonyms

• halseny
• See also Thesaurus:supposition

Related terms

• conject
• conjectural

Translations

Verb

conjecture (third-person singular simple present conjectures, present participle conjecturing, simple past and past participle conjectured)

1. (formal, intransitive) To guess; to venture an unproven idea.

   I do not know if it is true; I am simply conjecturing here.

2. (transitive) To infer on slight evidence; to guess at.
   • February 22, 1685, Robert South, All Contingences under the Direction of God's Providence (sermon preached at Westminster Abbey)

     Human reason can then, at the best, but conjecture what will be.

Translations

Further reading

• conjecture in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “conjecture”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• conjecture in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin coniect?ra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.??k.ty?/

Noun

conjecture f (plural conjectures)

1. conjecture

Usage notes

Not to be confused with conjoncture.

Verb

conjecture

1. first-person singular present indicative of conjecturer
2. third-person singular present indicative of conjecturer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of conjecturer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of conjecturer
5. second-person singular imperative of conjecturer

Further reading

• “conjecture” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Participle

conject?re

1. vocative masculine singular of conject?rus

Portuguese

Verb

conjecture

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of conjecturar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of conjecturar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of conjecturar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of conjecturar