con·jec·ture
(kən-jĕk′chər)n.1. Opinion or judgment based on inconclusive or incomplete evidence; guesswork.
2. An opinion or conclusion based on guesswork: The commentators made various conjectures about the outcome of the next election.
v. con·jec·tured, con·jec·tur·ing, con·jec·tures
v.tr. To judge or conclude by conjecture; guess: "From the comparative silence below ... I conjectured that Mr Rochester was now at liberty" (Charlotte Brontë).
v.intr. To make a conjecture.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin
coniectūra, from
coniectus, past participle of
conicere,
to infer :
com-,
com- +
iacere,
to throw; see
yē- in
Indo-European roots.]
con·jec′tur·a·ble adj.
con·jec′tur·al adj.
con·jec′tur·al·ly adv.
con·jec′tur·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.