conjecture
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 7, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n conjecture • \\kun-JEK-cher\\ • verb
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Conjecture is a formal synonym of the verb guess that means \u201cto form an opinion or idea without proof or sufficient evidence.\u201d
\n\n// Some scientists have conjectured that Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa could sustain life.
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\u201cIn the week since the news of the thefts broke, the case has been the subject of heated speculation in the British news media, with daily articles conjecturing over how many artifacts had been lost, and who was responsible.\u201d \u2014 Alex Marshall, The New York Times, 22 Aug. 2023
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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Conjecturing\u2014forming an idea or opinion with some amount of guesswork\u2014usually involves more than simply throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks, but that\u2019s the gist, and with good etymological reason: conjecture comes ultimately from the Latin verb conicere, which means, literally, \u201cto throw together.\u201d To conjecture is to make an educated guess rather than a stab in the dark; it involves piecing together bits of information to come to a plausible conclusion, as in \u201cscientists conjecturing about the cause of the disease.\u201d As such, conjecture tends to show up in formal contexts rather than informal ones, though we reckon one could conjecture if their spaghetti is perfectly cooked based on the amount of time it has been boiling, and on what has worked in the past. (Nota bene: throwing it at the wall doesn\u2019t work!)
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