conjecture

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 19, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>conjecture</strong> &#149; \kun-JEK-cher\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to arrive at or deduce by <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/surmise#h1">surmise</a> or guesswork <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guess">guess</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> to form a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supposition">supposition</a> or <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inference">inference</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>Some scientists have <em>conjectured</em> that Jupiter's moon Europa could sustain life.</p> <p>"He <em>conjectured</em> that the quick-sprouting barley would hold the sands through the winter and spring. This would give time for the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lupine">lupine</a> to establish itself, further stabilizing the dunes through the summer and following winter." — <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/chronicle_vault/article/How-sand-dunes-became-SF-s-Golden-Gate-Park-15577843.php">Gary Kamiya, <em>The San Francisco Chronicle</em>, 18 Sept. 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>When the noun <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conjecture#h1">conjecture</a></em> entered English in the 14th century, it referred to the act of interpreting signs or omens especially to make prognostications. That sense is now obsolete, but by the 16th century both the noun and verb <em>conjecture</em> had acquired the meanings of speculation and inference that we use today. <em>Conjecture</em> derives via Middle English and Middle French from the Latin verb <em>conicere</em> ("to throw together"), a combination of <em>com-</em> ("together") and <em>jacere</em> ("to throw").</p> <br /><br />