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When the noun conjecture entered English in the 14th century, it referred to the act of interpreting signs or omens especially to make prognostications. That sense is now obsolete, but by the 16th century both the noun and verb conjecture had acquired the meanings of speculation and inference that we use today. Conjecture derives via Middle English and Middle French from the Latin verb conicere ("to throw together"), a combination of com- ("together") and jacere ("to throw").
Synonyms
Examples of conjecture in a Sentence
Carl Zimmer, Science, 11 May 2001
… their voices rose in a chorus of conjecture and alarm, repeating the selfsame remark: "What is she going to do? I mean, is Betty going to faint?"
—Edna O'Brien, New Yorker, 1 Jan. 1990
The reason why the French with superior man-power and American resources were doing so poorly was not beyond all conjecture.
—Barbara W. Tuchman, The March of Folly, 1984
Peculiar features of early maps, which may have been nothing but a draftsman's whimsy, have inspired pages of vain conjecture.
—Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, 1971
The biography includes conjectures about the writer's earliest ambitions.
a conjecture about the extent of the injury
Most of the book is conjecture, not fact.
Verb
It is fashionable now to conjecture that the Big Bang was caused by a random quantum fluctuation in a vacuum devoid of space and time.
—Martin Gardner, Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 1998
… their traces left for future archaeologists to rediscover and perhaps to wonder or conjecture over.
—Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1984
I am anxious to conjecture beforehand what may be expected from the sowing turneps [sic] in jaded ground, how much from the acre, & how large they will be?
—Thomas Jefferson, letter, 29 Dec. 1794
Some have conjectured that the distant planet could sustain life.
We only conjecture about his motives.
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Jacob Bacharach, The New Republic, 12 Oct. 2023
This is based on pure conjecture that the lab was working either on the virus itself or a close progenitor that somehow escaped into the wild.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2023
Lewis doesn’t say who told him so, but the absurd conjecture appeared in a slavish profile written by a freelance author for Sequoia Capital, which invested in FTX; the profile has since been scrubbed from the firm’s website, presumably out of mortification.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2023
Ren first encountered the conjecture in 2020 as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
—Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2023
That’s one of the film’s more startling details and must have some connection to Miyazaki’s personal history, though that’s mere conjecture until such time as the director agrees to give interviews.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 7 Sep. 2023
Our policy is not to address speculation, conjecture, or opinion, but only facts and other matters of public record.
—Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 18 Aug. 2023
Quite where the blame lies for the rapid unspooling of all that Ajax had built is open to conjecture.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
In Schwartz’s solution to the Halpern-Weaver conjecture, the T-pattern lemma is a critical component.
—Rachel Crowell, Scientific American, 12 Sep. 2023
Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 9 Oct. 2023
Trades conjectured that this late-in-the-year deal means people may be working in Hollywood through the holidays, something almost unheard of by custom.
—Vulture, 27 Sep. 2023
Before the new ep drops on Thursday, Vulture is wildly conjecturing below.
—Vulture, 20 Sep. 2023
The biologist conjectures that a scavenger ate the rest of the remains.
—Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Aug. 2023
Bagans conjectures that the falls by Jensen and this man and the claims about children falling into a well – all at the same location – may link these deaths to a single source.
—Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 15 July 2023
The strategy, known as the AdS/CFT duality, conjectures that any situation in fundamental physics can be viewed in two mathematically equivalent ways, one with gravity, one without.
—George Musser, Quanta Magazine, 6 June 2023
Scientists conjecture that pangolins—widely considered a delicacy in China—may be the intermediate host to pass the novel virus to humans.
—Yanzhong Huang, Foreign Affairs, 5 Mar. 2020
Mathematicians have conjectured that the sausage pack is optimal for up to n = 55 balls.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 6 June 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conjecture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun and Verb
Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin conjectura, from conjectus, past participle of conicere, literally, to throw together, from com- + jacere to throw — more at jet
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Phrases Containing conjecture
Articles Related to conjecture
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Cite this Entry
“Conjecture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conjecture. Accessed 9 Nov. 2023.
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Kids Definition
conjecture
1 of 2 noun
conjecture
2 of 2 verb
More from Merriam-Webster on conjecture
Nglish: Translation of conjecture for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of conjecture for Arabic Speakers
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