theory
- noun
- /ˈθiːəri/
- According to the theory, evolution is driven by natural selection.
- theory and practice
- literary theory
- social theory
And I think next lecture is on Huckel theory, OK.
- And I think next lecture is on Huckel theory, OK.
- It's called Modern Monetary Theory, MMT for short.
- The details how we got to that theory are complicated.
- And so none of that theory is scientific.
- This is where almost like net network graph theory becomes practical.
- How can we even hope to to probe a theory which is so extreme?
- You still need to go and test your theory against observations.
- So that's, you know, the theory seems to be working pretty well.
- That, that's, that's the theory of vacuum energy in a nutshell.
- It's a linear theory, and linear theories can't be chaotic.
Examples
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Ensure the course is not just a theory-based module and that clinical, practical support is available.
Academic text (2011) -
And that theory has proven to be correct.
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When you write down the theory, the theory then becomes your teacher.
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I told her your theory about the Queen of the Dead.
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For the sociology of sport to advance, a theory of sport needs to be developed.
Academic text (1999) -
What is your preferred theory for muscular growth?
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The irony is that basic economic theory and practical experience predicted this would happen.
Academic text (2011) -
Respondents were asked to identify theories and models of management that influenced their administrative activities.
Academic text (2011) -
The student summarized her experience in relation to chaos theory and adaptation theory as follows:
Academic text (2011) -
The scientist presented a new theory that explains the behavior of black holes.
Synonyms
An abstract idea people use to explain observations or data
A tested explanation of how nature works, supported by many experiments and facts
An idea that explains how something works in science or research
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
An idea that tiny vibrating strings make different particles and forces
- Specialized
A tested explanation of how nature works, supported by many experiments and facts
- Specialized
The idea that living things change over time by natural selection
- Specialized
A scientific idea that space and time are linked and change with motion and gravity
- Specialized
A set of ideas that explain how goods, services, and money move in an economy
- Specialized
A theory in physics that says some things like energy exist only as small, separate amounts
- Specialized
A single idea that explains all forces and matter in the universe
- Specialized
An idea that the universe began when a hot, very dense point expanded quickly
- Specialized
An idea that all objects pull on each other, more when they are heavier and closer
- Specialized
An idea in physics that explains forces and particles as things spread through space and time, like gravity or electricity
- Specialized
A scientific idea that says gravity happens because space and time bend
- Specialized
A scientific idea that says space and time change depending on speed and gravity
- Archaic
The political belief that if one country becomes communist, nearby countries will fall like dominoes
- Specialized
An idea that infectious diseases are caused by tiny organisms like bacteria or viruses
- Specialized
Study of how to measure, store, and send information with little loss
- Specialized
A theory by Albert Einstein that explains gravity as the bending of space and time
- Specialized
A scientific idea that all matter is made of tiny particles called atoms
- Specialized
A scientific idea by Einstein that space and time depend on how fast something moves
- Specialized
A scientific idea that space and time change with speed and that light has the same speed for all observers
- Specialized
Study of how people send and receive messages through media like newspapers, radio and television
- Specialized
A scientific idea that objects with mass pull on each other more strongly when they are heavier and closer
- Specialized
A branch of physics explaining how very small particles and fields interact
- Specialized
A part of math that studies chance and how likely events are
- Specialized
An idea that explains patterns in how people live and act in society
- Specialized
A scientific idea that the universe began in a huge explosion from one tiny hot point and is still expanding
- Specialized
A theory saying electrons orbit the nucleus in fixed energy levels and give off light when they change energy
- Specialized
An early form of string theory that describes only bosons, a type of particle, and needs 26 dimensions
- Archaic
An idea that new matter is created so the universe keeps the same density as it expands
- Archaic
The idea that light is a stream of tiny particles rather than a wave
- Specialized
A 1905 Einstein theory saying time and space change because light's speed is always the same
- Specialized
Acids break into hydrogen ions and bases into hydroxide ions in water, forming salt and water
- Specialized
A theory that says all matter is made of very small parts called atoms
- Specialized
A theory that says all matter is made of tiny particles that cannot be divided called atoms
- Specialized
A field that studies how to find out about a group or process from data
- Specialized
An idea in physics that gases are made of tiny moving particles that cause pressure and temperature
- Specialized
An idea that explains gases as made of tiny particles moving in all directions
- Formal
Population often grows faster than food and other resources, causing shortages
- Specialized
A part of algebra that uses symmetry to study when polynomial equations can be solved
- Specialized
Explains gravity as the bending of space and time by heavy objects
- Specialized
A scientific theory saying any two objects pull each other more if heavier and less as they get farther apart
- Specialized
Substances that are weak acids or bases and that have charged and uncharged forms with different colors
A set of ideas about life, knowledge, or right and wrong that people accept and follow
- Specialized
A scientific idea that Earth's outer layer of rock moves in large plates and causes earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains
- Specialized
An explanation of how acids and bases split into charged particles in water
- Specialized
A chemistry idea that acids, bases, and salts split into charged particles in water
- Specialized
A scientific idea about how objects pull each other, with larger objects pulling more and pull weakening with distance
- Specialized
Long periods of little change followed by short, fast bursts of new species forming
- Specialized
A scientific idea that explains the weak force that makes some atoms change into other atoms
- Specialized
A rule that explains why dyes used to show acid or base change color when their two forms look different
- Specialized
A scientific idea that explains how traits pass from parents to children in living things
- Specialized
A scientific idea that living things slowly change and share common ancestors
- Archaic
A wrong idea that a tiny fully formed body in an egg or sperm just grows bigger
- Specialized
A physics idea that light moves at the same speed and time and space change for moving people
- Archaic
An idea that the universe stays the same overall because new matter is made as galaxies move apart
- Specialized
A scientific idea that light moves as waves and makes bright and dark patterns
How Established
Surface Forms
Morphology
theory = theor + y
The stem 'theor-' is a borrowed combining form (not a standalone English word) and the meaning cannot be reliably derived by learners from the visible parts.
Etymology
Theory comes from the Greek word theoria, which means 'a viewing' and is related to theatre, a place to watch. So a theory is like a careful 'way of looking' at facts to explain them.