English
conjecture
Conjecture comes from Latin coniectūra ‘a guess’, from cōniciō ‘throw or cast together’, and ultimately from iaciō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiaciō‘throw, hurl’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōniciō‘throw or cast together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiectusperfect passive participle of cōniciō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiectūra‘a guess’
- Englishearliest quotation 1838conjecture
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiaciō‘throw, hurl’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōniciō‘throw or cast together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiectusperfect passive participle of cōniciō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEconiectūra‘a guess’
- Englishearliest quotation 1838conjecture
Earliest quotation: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Keeping up Appearances. […]: “Most likely he who is the shorter of the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’
year, hour, objective, projection, catheter, trajectory, objection, projectile, enema, jut, abject, iambic, objector, jetsam, dejection, 37 more
through Latin iaciō ‘throw, hurl’
disease, project, ease, adjacent, jet, object, jess, injection, gist, adjective, jetty, ejaculation, inject, ejaculate, ejection, eject, joist, jettison, subjection, interject, 31 more
Today it means
noun A statement or an idea which is unproven, but is thought to be true; a guess.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin iaciō / conjecture