conjecture

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A guess or opinion based on incomplete evidence.

   Whether he understood or not is pure conjecture.

2. 2
   verb

   To guess or form an opinion without solid proof.

   I conjecture that the recipe uses two parts sugar, but I'm only guessing.

From Old French, from Latin coniectūra (“a guess”), from coniectus, perfect passive participle of cōniciō (“throw or cast together; guess”), from con- (“together”) + iaciō (“throw, hurl”); see jet. Compare adjective, eject, inject, project, reject, subject, object, trajectory, deject, abject, surjection, bijection, interject. Compare typologically Russian прики́дывать (prikídyvatʹ) (akin to кида́ть (kidátʹ)).

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