theoryn.
/ˈθɪəri/, U.S. /ˈθiəri/, /ˈθɪri/ 1.
a. The conceptual basis of a subject or area of study. Contrasted with practice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > [noun] > theory as opposed to practice
theoric?a1425
theoricala1500
theorics1551
theory1588
science fiction1881
1588 J. Harvey Discoursiue Probl. conc. Prophesies i. 5 Full silly and sorrie artists in any kinde, especially in the sound Theorie, and effectuall practise of the woorthiest, and noblest sciences.
1605 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes I. §85 Of others, I may learne the Theorie of Diuinitie, of these onely, the practise.
1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection sig. I5, in Justice Vindicated The Romans, who though the Grecians were best at the Theory of Rhetorick and Poetry, were the best Orators and Poets.
1767 Adventures Kidnapped Orphan 13 As eminent for his goodness as a man, as his skill in the theory and practice of the law.
1795 C. Hutton Math. & Philos. Dict. II. 585/1 To be learned in an art, &c., the Theory is sufficient; to be a master of it, both the Theory and practice are requisite.
1827 R. Whately Elements Logic (ed. 2) 205 Logic being concerned with the theory of Reasoning.
a1854 J. S. Mill Draft Autobiogr. (1961) 135 I pushed on..to try whether I could do anything further to clear up the theory of Logic generally.
1927 B. Russell Outl. Philos. xxiii. 248 Descartes..inaugurated two movements, one in metaphysics, one in theory of knowledge.
1956 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 9 Oct. 11/3 He was an instructor and lecturer on the history and theory of architecture.
2004 G. Block Enchanted Evenings vii. 134 He began studying theory and composition as well as piano.
b. Mathematics. The body of knowledge relating to the properties of a particular mathematical concept; a collection of theorems forming a connected system. Frequently with of in early use, as theory of equations, theory of functions, theory of numbers, theory of probabilities, etc. Now commonly with modifying noun, as group theory, number theory, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > [noun] > mathematical enquiry > proposition > theorem > set of
theory1740
1740 B. Martin Logarithmologia ii. v. 128 My Design being only to acquaint the Reader with the Theory and practical Uses of Logarithms, and not to treat of the Theory of any other Art or Branch of Mathematical Science.
1799 W. Frend (title) The Principles of Algebra: or the true Theory of Equations established on mathematical demonstration.
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 2 A set or collection of..Theorems constitutes a Theory.
1838 A. De Morgan Ess. Probabilities Pref. p. v At the end of the seventeenth century, the theory of probabilities was contained in a few isolated problems.
1947 Ann. Math. Statistics 18 179 The theory of random variables in a finite number of dimensions is able to deal adequately with practically all problems considered in classical probability theory.
1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xlvi. 1077 The abstract theory of functionals was initiated by Volterra in work concerned with the calculus of variations.
2005 L. Randall Warped Passages xxiv. 452 Superficially, matrix theory looks like a quantum mechanical theory that describes the behavior and interactions of Do-branes (pointlike branes) moving through ten dimensions.
2007 I. Stewart Why Beauty is Truth v. 66 By the age of 17 he had already discovered an astonishing theorem known as the ‘law of quadratic reciprocity’ in the theory of numbers.
c. An approach to the study of literature, the arts, and culture that incorporates concepts from disciplines such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the social sciences; esp. such an approach intended to challenge or provide an alternative to critical methods and interpretations that are established, traditional, and seen as arising from particular metaphysical or ideological assumptions. Cf. literary theory n. at literary adj. and n. Compounds.Associated esp. with post-structuralism and the critical method of deconstruction.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > literary criticism > [noun] > types of literary criticism
criticism1625
critical theory1799
literary theory1807
autocriticism1820
pseudo-criticism1851
Formgeschichte1923
form-criticism1928
form-history1928
practical criticism1929
New Criticism1941
contextualism1955
patternism1956
objectivism1961
narratology1971
new historicism1972
deconstruction1973
post-structuralism1975
deconstructionism1980
theory1982
1982 P. de Man in Yale French Stud. No. 63 8 The advent of theory, the break..that sets it aside from literary history and from literary criticism, occurs with the introduction of linguistic terminology in the metalanguage about literature.
1992 D. Lodge in M. Bradbury & J. Cooke New Writing 204 He or she would almost certainly be working in the field of Theory, or applying Theory to the revisionist reading of classic texts.
2007 Independent on Sunday 8 Apr. 7/1 Dubbed the ‘wild man of theory’ Zizek presents everything in a new light, even just the charity tin on the Pret a Manger counter.
2012 J. Ryan Novel after Theory 5 In university courses, theory is often studied as a method for application, and students are asked to write analyses of literary texts from the vantage point of various theorists.
2. Without article. Abstract knowledge or principles, as opposed to practical experience or activity; theorizing, theoretical speculation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun] > forming of theories
theory1592
theorizing1757
theorism1789
theorization1816
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [noun] > abstractness > abstraction
abstracta1398
abstraction1579
theory1592
abstractum1728
unding1932
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. iv. 55 Whatsoeuer occasion causeth me to be mistaken, as ouer-much addicted to Theory, without respect of action.
1624 T. Macarnesse in J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia Pref. sig. A1v That thou mightst read and know and safely see, What he by practice, thou by Theoree.
1687 W. Hope Scots Fencing-master 164 Theorie without Practice will serve but for little.
1734 W. Stukeley Of Gout i. 40 Now we may advantageously theorize from practise, not practise from theory.
1772 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra I. Pref. p. xxviii Theory is at variance with practice.
1821 J. Q. Adams Rep. Secretary of State (U.S.) Upon Weights & Measures 69 A compromise between philosophical theory and inveterate popular habits.
1892 B. P. Bowne Princ. Ethics ii. 64 Pleasure-seeking has been commended and recommended by a vast deal of theory.
1922 J. A. Leighton Man & Cosmos iv. xxxii. 440 The gap seems to widen between the warm manifoldness, intensity, and movement of living experience and the cold sameness, pallidity and inertness of theory.
2006 Beers of World Jan. 21/2 Serious beer anoraks can divide and subdivide Belgian beer categories..and frankly, we consider life too short for that much theory.
3. A conception of something to be done, or of the method of doing it; a systematic statement of rules or principles to be followed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > planning > [noun] > a plan
redeeOE
devicec1290
casta1300
went1303
ordinancec1385
intentc1386
imaginationa1393
drifta1535
draught1535
forecast1535
platform1547
ground-plat?a1560
table1560
convoy1565
design1565
plat1574
ground-plota1586
plot1587
reach1587
theory1593
game1595
projectment1611
projecting1616
navation1628
approach1633
view1634
plan1635
systema1648
sophism1657
manage1667
brouillon1678
speculationa1684
sketch1697
to take measures1698
method1704
scheme1704
lines1760
outline1760
measure1767
restorative1821
ground plan1834
strategy1834
programme1837
ticket1842
project1849
outline plan1850
layout1867
draft1879
dart1882
lurk1916
schema1939
lick1955
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 83 Importunacy will neuer linne molesting Parliaments, and Princes, with..all possible instant meanes of enforcing, and extorting the present Practise of their incorruptible Theorie.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xxix. 64 If they had bene themselues to execute their owne theorie in this Church.
1644 Bp. J. Hall Devout Soul iii. 12 It will hardly be beleeved, how far some of their Contemplative men have gone in the Theory hereof.
1684 J. Dryden Prol. Univ. Oxf. in Misc. Poems 268 Your Theories are here to Practice brought, As in Mechanick operations wrought.
1733 Present State Republick Lett. 11 xxiv. 362 The due Interpretation of Nature..should not only direct a general Practice, or the Perfection of Arts, but also constitute a general Theory, for perfecting the Understanding.
1798 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population x. 181 A theory that will not admit of application cannot possibly be just.
1853 Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 127 1174 The theory of the old Government of India was one which could not be defended.
1879 M. Pattison Milton xiii. 219 Even the calm and gentle author of the Christian Year..deliberately framed a theory of Poetic for the express purpose, as it would seem, of excluding the author of Paradise Lost from the first class of poets.
1909 A. W. Small Cameralists xxii. 591 Cameralism..was a theory of managing natural resources and human capacities so that they would be most lucrative.
1954 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 13 Nov. 4/7 My life has been a series of proofs that the Bible is not only a literary masterpiece but a workable theory for living.
2003 T. A. Kochan & D. B. Lipsky Negotiations & Change 3 Our theories of managing groups have yet to be updated to take account of the variety of group work taking place in organizations today.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > continued thinking, reflection, contemplation > [noun]
thoughta1387
consideration1388
contemplationc1390
meditationa1393
musinga1393
speculationa1450
studier1472
musea1500
recollection1576
contemplature1580
rumination1585
contemplating1587
amuse1606
meditating1609
theory1611
meditancea1625
amusement1694
cogitabundation1729
cogibundity1734
cogitabundity1744
think1834
recueillement1845
thunk1922
noodling1942
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Theorie, theorie, contemplation, deepe studie; a sight, or beholding, speculation.
1642 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici i. 83 Nor can I thinke I have the true Theory of death when I contemplate a skull, or behold a Skeleton with those vulgar imaginations it casts upon us.
1710 J. Norris Treat. Christian Prudence ii. 65 Speculative Knowledge contemplates Truth for itself, and accordingly stops and rests in the Contemplation of it, which is what we commonly call Theory.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > sight or spectacle
sightc950
showingOE
spectacle1434
inspectionc1460
show1536
object1588
eyemark1595
theatre1606
theorya1626
exhibit1676
exhibition1786
something to see (or look at)1808
eyeful1858
spectacular1890
a1626 L. Andrewes XCVI Serm. (1629) 365 Saint Luke..calleth the Passion θεωρίαν a Theorie or Sight... Of our blessed Saviovr's whole life or death, there is no part but is a Theorie of it selfe, well worthy our looking on.
a1626 L. Andrewes XCVI Serm. (1629) 367 In the one, is the Theorie or Sight we shall see... In the other the praxis of this theorie; What this sight is to work in us.
6.
a. An explanation of a phenomenon arrived at through examination and contemplation of the relevant facts; a statement of one or more laws or principles which are generally held as describing an essential property of something.Atomic theory, big bang theory, quantum theory, etc.: see the first element.Theory of evolution, theory of relativity, etc.: see the final element.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > [noun] > theory of knowledge, system
system1615
theory?1634
philosophy1668
technology1683
scheme1690
stock-in-tradea1806
episteme1842
Wissenschaftslehre1846
epistemics1901
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun]
theoretic1601
theory?1634
system1650
scheme1675
theoreticals1809
?1634 W. Oughtred To Eng. Gentrie sig. C3v Also another Instrument, consisting of two halfe circles most plainely and easily giving the Prosthaphæreses of the Plannets according to the Theory of Copernicus.
1684 T. Burnet (title) The theory of the earth.
1750 C. Wren Parentalia 210 He has made constant Observations on Saturn; and a Theory of that Planet, truly answering all Observations.
1795 J. Hutton Theory Earth (new ed.) I. 265 Our author undertakes to refute my theory with regard to the igneous origin of stony substances, by giving an example of granite formed upon the surface of the earth by means of water.
1850 W. R. Grove On Correlation Physical Forces (ed. 2) 105 Were a theory open to no objection it would cease to be a theory, and would become a law.
1879 M. Pattison Milton xiii. 180 The Copernican theory, which placed the sun in the centre of our system, was already the established belief of the few well-informed.
1978 H. J. M. Claessen & P. Skalník Early State i. 9 The theories of Marx and Engels on the origin of the state and the character of its early forms received little attention in the circles of nineteenth and early twentieth century social scientists.
2006 L. Smolin Trouble with Physics i. 12 This understanding is expressed in terms of a theory that accounts for all of these particles and all of the forces except for gravity.
b. More generally: a hypothesis or set of ideas about something. Often implying that the given ideas are purely speculative in nature.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > [noun]
speculative1412
speculationa1450
theory1668
project1727
ideology1813
ideologizing1861
1668 D. Lloyd Memoires 197 If any Laws or Presidents, had been of force to have prevented this Crimen post homines natos inauditum, it had been only a Theory in some male-content Jesuits melancholy Chamber of Meditation.
1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity (ed. 3) II. ii. ix. 248 Theories which have, at different times, gained possession of the public mind.
1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands iii. 95 So varied are the theories as to the origin of these wonderful sepulchres.
1880 T. A. Spalding Elizabethan Demonol. 35 This was not a mere theory, but a vital active belief.
1918 Classical Jrnl. 13 372 They regard a theory of more importance than facts, for if they can only spin a theory they have no need of facts.
1987 New Scientist 9 July 13/2 Creationists argued that evolution is ‘just a theory’.
2005 E. Morrison Last Bk. you Read 70 They're all thinking about it. They just lack the guts—that's my theory, anyway.
Phrases
in theory: according to theory, theoretically. Cf. in practice at practice n. Phrases 1.
ΚΠ
1674 R. Hooke Animadversions Machina Cœlestis 64 But there remains yet one great Difficulty, how to be able to make such a Curviture, for though the thing be true in theory, yet is it not without some trouble, put in practice.
1776 J. Adams Let. 26 May in Papers (1979) IV. 208 It is certain in Theory, that the only moral Foundation of Government is the Consent of the People.
1794 Addr. Soc. United Irishmen of Dublin 6 It is also used as an argument, that although in theory every man has a right to vote, yet the exercise of that right among us would be impracticable.
1839 New Monthly Mag. 57 536 A sort of intellectual Chartism, very sublime and beautiful in theory, but very useless in practice.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars iii. 136 A priory was a monastery which in theory or in fact was subject to an abbey.
1960 News Chron. 21 Sept. 6/3 In theory it was a Good Thing... In practice it turned out a mixed blessing.
2012 Independent 3 May 22/2 We knew in theory that it happened, of course.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive (chiefly in sense 1), as theory book, theory class, theory exam, etc.
ΚΠ
1834 Caledonian Mercury 24 Apr. The lecturer on Practical Chemistry might..prejudice the mind of his class..and tell them that there was no necessity of attending the Theory class.
1879 Musical Times 20 224 The principal of a well-known Margate school when urged by me to adopt a theory book..replied that he found it too advanced for beginners.
1894 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Rev. 22 Oct. Myrtle Dunscomb passed the theory examination in shorthand on Thursday.
1900 M. B. Thrasher Tuskegee vii. 69 As in most of the metal working classes, the last hour in the afternoon alternates between theory lessons and drawing.
1921 Physical Training Feb. 184 Should the examination on theory work be in the form of questions or a written outline?
1965 Ebony July 72 I spend hours on the piano studying for theory class.
1994 Swimming Times Sept. 24/1 The Theory Session will take place in the morning and the Water Session in the afternoon.
2014 South Wales Echo (Nexis) 4 Sept. (News section) 25 Having since passed his theory exams he has found himself struggling to complete the practical training needed to gain an NVQ qualification.
b. Instrumental, objective, etc.† theory-bigoted adj. Obsolete rare
theory-based adj.
ΚΠ
1952 Jrnl. Philos. 49 777 What I would like to see is a theory of induction that would lay bare the abstract conditions under which such a theory-based..method is possible.
1984 E. Stones Supervision in Teacher Educ. iii. 46 The overall aim of the course is the production of teachers who are skilled practitioners in..teaching that is theory based, enquiry-oriented, and self-monitoring.
2014 Chichester Observer (Nexis) 1 Sept. You have additional hands-on experience, compared to the university courses which are usually far more theory-based.
ΚΠ
1884 Q. Rev. Apr. 337 More theory-bigoted than Mr. Frederic Harrison must he be.
theory building n.
ΚΠ
1780 Mirror No. 107. 311 There is something..so delightful in this art of theory-building.
1964 Language 40 225 Spelling out very clearly how its results have been incorporated into other experiments and theory-building.
2013 China Jrnl. (Austral. National Univ.) No. 70. 286 The book..asks big questions and attempts to answer them in ways that contribute to theory building.
theory-driven adj.
ΚΠ
1922 H. C. Rowland Hirondelle xxxv. 296 There is no such stubborn theory-driven fool as the wise philosopher.
1975 Operational Res. Q. 26 677 This was the first of many situations where we demonstrated the benefits of theory-driven behavioural research.
2011 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 2 July Unquestionably the work of a major scholar, his prose is the opposite of the obfuscating, theory-driven gobbledygook disgorged by universities today.
theory-mad adj.
ΚΠ
1823 W. Tully in T. Miner & W. Tully Ess. Fevers ii. i. 341 So theory-mad is Dr. Johnson, as to be very much dissatisfied with the deficiency of bleeding.
1915 P. Andreae Prohibition Movement 410 An aggregation of theory-mad individuals calling themselves philanthropists.
2012 D. Rothenberg Survival of Beautiful v. 141 The theory-mad artist was considered too full of himself to be taken seriously.
theory-making n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1830 H. T. De la Beche Sections & Views Pref. p. iv One very reprehensible mode of theory-making consists, after honest deductions from a few facts have been made, in torturing other facts to suit the end proposed.
1833 S. H. Cox Quakerism not Christianity i. 52 It is most probable (slighted as it was by many of the visionary votaries of Aristotle's theory-making logic) that Barclay had never read it!
1931 A. Huxley Music at Night 77 The theory-making mind.
2002 L. Heldke in C. H. Seigfried Feminist Interpr. J. Dewey xi. 246 Science, an activity already highly regarded by philosophy as a theory-making enterprise.
2009 D. Knight Making Mod. Sci. ix. 195 Understanding and theory-making, technology and medicine form a spectrum within the umbrella of science.
theory-ridden adj.
ΚΠ
1835 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. 16 i. 260 They were so theory-ridden, so exclusively devoted to the promotion of the greatest possible happiness for the greatest number, that they lost all tact.
1922 R. Fry Let. 6 Mar. (1972) II. 522 I don't take it to heart when you say that my pictures are the utterly dismal performances of a theory-ridden painter.
1996 E. D. Hirsch Schools we Need i. 7 Both educational traditionalists and progressivists have tended to be far too dogmatic, polemical, and theory-ridden to be reliable beacons for public policy.
theory-spinning n.
ΚΠ
1865 All Year Round 8 July 575/2 If there be anything beyond mere theory spinning in the above speculation.
1904 B. C. A. Windle Remains Prehist. Age Eng. Pref. p. xiii There has been a vast amount of theory-spinning in connection with the early epochs.
1996 Texas Alcalde (Univ. Texas) Jan.–Feb. 22/3 Most literature courses..encourage students to detach themselves from the texts they read—to read them simply as occasions for formal analysis, or symbol-chasing, or theory-spinning.
C2.
theory-blind adj. (a) unwilling or unable to recognize facts which run contrary to a preferred theory (now rare); (b) applied without reference to theory.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > not following theory
untheoretical1797
untheorizing1820
theory-blind1874
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adjective] > liable to err > as a result of theory
theory-blind1874
1874 C. M. Davies Heterodox London I. 119 McSweeney he regarded as simply ‘theory-blind’, and proceeded to dissect his solar method.
1917 Amer. Economist 21 Dec. 294/1 Those so theory-blind as to be unable to see that it is the war and not the Underwood Tariff that funded our prosperity.
1985 B. Gregg tr. H. Dubiel Theory & Politics 133 The unmediated coexistence of philosophical speculation and theory-blind empiricism.
1997 S. Tianjian Polit. Participation in Beijing iv. 124 These components are located by theory-blind methods.
2013 W. Matthews New Left iii. 96 Thompson can be taxed on many points, but not that he was some sort of theory-blind empiricist.
theory-free adj. (a) composed of facts and observation rather than theories or speculation; (b) Philosophy designating something which is not influenced by a particular theory or theories.
ΚΠ
1897 Critic (N.Y.) 24 Apr. 286/1 The volume makes one wish that American archæology could be systematized, sifted and made theory-free.
1958 Brit. Jrnl. Philos. Sci. 9 24 It is clear that the ‘fact’ words..are therefore not reported in ‘theory-free’ statements.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory i. 49 As Feigl says, most positivistically inclined authors today..recognize that observation statements cannot be entirely ‘theory-free’.
2001 S. T. Asma Stuffed Animals & Pickled Heads v. 189 The objective for most scientists is not to be theory-free, but to be theory-minimal in the empirical phase of their research.
2009 S. Sheehan Joyce's Ulysses: Reader's Guide vi. 117 Each episode of the novel is summarized in some detail, followed by a theory-free account of its style.
theory-laden adj. (a) excessively theoretical; (b) Philosophy (of a term, statement, etc.) influenced by a particular theory or theories.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [adjective] > characterized by theory
pure1605
theorized1826
theory-laden1886
1886 Med. & Surg. Reporter 25 Sept. 404/2 It is in strong and favorable contrast to the ponderous, theory-laden tomes of Ziemmsen's Cyclopœdia.
1958 N. R. Hanson Patterns of Discov. i. 19 There is a sense..in which seeing is a ‘theory-laden’ undertaking. Observation of x is shaped by prior knowledge of x.
2000 Econ. & Philos. 16 56 It is nowadays fashionable to claim that observation reports in science are no less ‘theory-laden’ than high level explanations.
2008 M. Glantz & J. Mun Banker's Handbk. on Credit Risk p. ix There are a plethora of mathematical modeling and theory-laden books without any real hands-on applicability.
theory man n. colloquial (somewhat depreciative) a theorist.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun] > holder of theories
contemplator1563
theorist1588
theorician1635
putationer1658
speculatist1693
theory man1727
theory-monger1747
theoretician1782
theorizer1792
theory-tailor1875
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. i. 10 What our learned Theory Men insist to have been the Causes of the Deluge.
1896 Clay Worker July 32/1 They neither of them know anything about brickmaking, but they think they do. ‘They are great theory men.’
2005 Z. Bauman Liquid Life i. 28 Marx, a theory man, would have many occasions to complain about the incapacitating rift between theory and practice.
theory-monger n. freq. depreciative (now rare) a person who propagates theories.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun] > holder of theories
contemplator1563
theorist1588
theorician1635
putationer1658
speculatist1693
theory man1727
theory-monger1747
theoretician1782
theorizer1792
theory-tailor1875
1747 E. Weaver Brit. Telescope (ed. 25) sig. C7 Those [sc. predicted positions of the comet] of Mr. Wright (so much exploded by our new Theory-Monger) were nearer the Truth.
1905 Academy 4 Feb. 105/1 It is high time that protest be made..against the master's works being made the prey of theorymongers.
2001 Relig. & Lit. 33 33 As a theory-monger, he also assumes that monks have no serious hypotheses of their own regarding the natural order.
theory-neutral adj. Philosophy not influenced by a particular theory or theories.
ΚΠ
1954 Sci. Monthly Nov. 310/1 It is a mistake to think that these differences correspond to the difference between theory-neutral and theory-contaminated terms.
1977 A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory iii. 150 Grounded in the descriptions of a theory-neutral observation language.
2002 Brit. Jrnl. Hist. Sci. 35 385 Some authors identify this type of rhetoric as the beginnings of a loosely articulated, theory-neutral method for accumulating matters of fact.
theory-tailor n. depreciative rare a person concerned more with forming or shaping theories than with practical matters.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > speculation > confirmation of hypothesis, theory > [noun] > holder of theories
contemplator1563
theorist1588
theorician1635
putationer1658
speculatist1693
theory man1727
theory-monger1747
theoretician1782
theorizer1792
theory-tailor1875
1875 Fortn. Rev. July 142 These men are theory-tailors, not politicians.
1967 W. R. Fuchs Math. for Mod. Mind vii. 174/2 This picture of the formalistically minded ‘theory-tailors’ in modern mathematics reflects well the situation in modern algebra.
theory test n. any of various tests that examine a person's knowledge of the theoretical aspects of a subject or area of study, esp. as contrasted with practical abilities; now spec. (chiefly British) the written component of a driving test.
ΚΠ
1895 Phonetic Jrnl. 17 Aug. 527/1 There was one student who sat for the second-class speed test [in shorthand] (90 words per minute) and he passed;..in the theory test 17 sat and 16 passed.
1920 Etude July 442/2 Next came a theory test... A tonic chord and Sanskrit were all the same to Mary.
1985 Times 2 Apr. 3/1 Britain might have to raise the standard of its theory test to bring it in line with those given in other countries.
2008 W. D. Käppler Smart Driver Training Simulation iv. 72 When repeating the theory test, a high rate of experienced drivers fail.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1588