conjecture

conjecture, supposition

Idée que l’on croit vraie sans pouvoir encore la prouver.

En anglais simple : An idea that someone thinks is true but cannot yet prove.

• That is only conjecture.
• Her conjecture about the missing money proved correct.
• The mathematicians are trying to prove a famous conjecture.

Comment l'utiliser : conjecture about something (There is plenty of conjecture about why she left.); the conjecture that… (The discovery supports the conjecture that the site was once inhabited.)

Synonymes : guess, hypothesis, supposition

Expressions courantes : pure conjecture, a conjecture, conjecture about something, test a conjecture

conjecturer, supposer

Avancer qu’une chose pourrait être vraie sans avoir assez de preuves pour le démontrer.

En anglais simple : To suggest that something may be true without having enough evidence to prove it.

• We can only conjecture about the cause.
• She conjectured that the letter had been lost.
• Historians conjecture that a fire destroyed the settlement.

Comment l'utiliser : conjecture that… (Researchers conjecture that the building was a temple.); conjecture about something (We can only conjecture about his reasons for leaving.)

Synonymes : guess, suppose, speculate

Expressions courantes : conjecture that something, conjecture about something