hypothesis

仮説

物事の仕組みや原因についての、研究や実験で確かめられる考え。

やさしい英語で： An idea about how or why something happens that you can check through research or experiments.

• The experiment supports our hypothesis.
• Scientists tested several hypotheses about the disease.
• Does the new evidence fit your original hypothesis?

使い方： hypothesis that… (We tested the hypothesis that plants grow faster in warm rooms.); hypothesis about something (They proposed a hypothesis about the cause of the disease.)

類義語： theory, proposed explanation

よく使う表現： test a hypothesis, working hypothesis, support a hypothesis, scientific hypothesis

仮定、推測

まだ証明されていないが、議論や調査の出発点として受け入れる考え。

やさしい英語で： An idea accepted for discussion or investigation even though it has not been proved.

• That is only a hypothesis.
• Her claim remains a hypothesis without proof.
• We began our discussion with the hypothesis that everyone would agree.

使い方： on the hypothesis that… (Let us reason on the hypothesis that the story is true.)

類義語： assumption, supposition, conjecture

よく使う表現： mere hypothesis, pure hypothesis, on the hypothesis