Definition of CONJECTURES

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Verb

When the noun "conjecture" entered English in the 14th century, it referred to the act of interpreting signs or omens (as for making 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" derived via Middle English and Middle French from the Latin verb conicere ("to throw together"), a combination of "com-" ("together") and "jacere" ("to throw").

Examples of conjecture in a Sentence

Noun

Whether Columbus brought syphilis to the New World—or to the Old World—has been the subject of conjecture for at least 500 years. — 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 Despairing of assistance and protection from below (as they foolishly conjecture) they talk of capitulating and coming upon terms with the French and Indians … — George Washington 24 Apr. 1776, in The Papers of George Washington, 1984 … 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.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The release plans for one of Netflix’s most expensive films yet had been a subject of much conjecture ever since the steaming service greenlit Scorsese’s film. — Washington Post, "Netflix to give ‘The Irishman’ exclusive theatrical release," 28 Aug. 2019 The release plans for one of Netflix’s most expensive films yet had been a subject of much conjecture ever since the steaming service greenlit Scorsese’s film. — Jake Coyle, BostonGlobe.com, "Netflix to give Martin Scorsese’s crime epic ‘The Irishman’ exclusive theatrical release," 27 Aug. 2019 The release plans for Netflix's most expensive film had been a subject of much conjecture ever since the steaming service greenlit Scorsese's film. — Jake Coyle, Fortune, "Netflix’s ‘The Irishman’ Won’t Have a Wide Theatrical Release," 27 Aug. 2019 The release plans for Netflix's most expensive film had been a subject of much conjecture ever since the steaming service greenlit Scorsese's film. — Jake Coyle, chicagotribune.com, "Netflix to give ‘The Irishman’ exclusive theatrical release," 27 Aug. 2019 The proof resolves a nearly 80-year-old problem known as the Duffin-Schaeffer conjecture. — Wired, "A Major Proof Shows How to Approximate Numbers Like Pi," 18 Aug. 2019 The conjecture provides a mathematical function to evaluate this question. — Quanta Magazine, "New Proof Settles How to Approximate Numbers Like Pi," 14 Aug. 2019 Many of the theories ventured into the realm of outlandish conjecture, amplified by conservative commentators and at least two Republican officials. — NBC News, "After Epstein's suicide, conspiracy theories flourish online," 10 Aug. 2019 Even in the much buzzed-about realm of private unicorns, WeWork stands out as a lightning rod for attention and conjecture. — Rey Mashayekhi, Fortune, "‘Doesn’t Pass the Smell Test’: Investors Question Recent Developments at WeWork Ahead of IPO," 25 July 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

In 1992, Noam Nisan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Mario Szegedy, now of Rutgers University, conjectured that sensitivity does indeed fit into this framework. — Quanta Magazine, "Decades-Old Computer Science Conjecture Solved in Two Pages," 25 July 2019 In 1992, Noam Nisan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Mario Szegedy, now of Rutgers University, conjectured that sensitivity does indeed fit into this framework. — Wired, "A Decades-Old Computer Science Puzzle Was Solved in Two Pages," 4 Aug. 2019 Hedetniemi conjectured that whichever of the two carry-over colorings uses fewer colors is, in fact, the best possible way to color the tensor graph. — Quanta Magazine, "A 53-Year-Old Network Coloring Conjecture Is Disproved," 17 June 2019 Archaeologists conjecture that the famous Hindu temple had been destroyed and rebuilt at least five times. — Paul Salopek, National Geographic, "One of India's holiest cities is being reborn. Not everyone is happy," 21 Mar. 2019 The paper, by the prominent string theorist Cumrun Vafa of Harvard University and collaborators, conjectured a simple formula dictating which kinds of universes are allowed to exist and which are forbidden, according to string theory. — Quanta Magazine, "Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory," 9 Aug. 2018 Historians conjecture that the boats were intended to carry souls to the next world. — Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, "In Iraq Museum, There Are Things ‘That Are Nowhere Else in the World’," 9 June 2019 So a deal might reach $13 million a year, though Sound Transit won’t conjecture about bid values in advance. — Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times, "Sound Transit puts bus outsourcing on hold," 25 Mar. 2019 It's also conjectured that her six children have kept her busy. — Fox News, "8 stars who vanished from the public eye," 27 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conjecture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.