thesis

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English thesis (“lowering of the voice”) and also borrowed directly from its etymon Latin thesis (“proposition, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from Ancient Greek θέσῐς (thésis, “arrangement, placement, setting; conclusion, position, thesis; lowering of the voice”), from τῐ́θημῐ (títhēmi, “to place, put, set; to put down in writing; to consider as, regard”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”)) + -σῐς (-sis, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). The English word is a doublet of deed.

Sense 1.1 (“proposition or statement supported by arguments”) is adopted from antithesis. Sense 1.4 (“initial stage of reasoning”) was first used by the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), and later applied to the dialectical method of his countryman, the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831).

The plural form theses is borrowed from Latin thesēs, from Ancient Greek θέσεις (théseis).

Pronunciation

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈθiːsɪs/, (archaic) /ˈθɛsɪs/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈθisɪs/

  • Audio (GA)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -iːsɪs
  • Hyphenation: the‧sis
• Plural:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈθiːsiːz/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈθisiz/
  • Rhymes: -iːsiːz
  • Hyphenation: the‧ses

Noun

thesis (plural theses)

1. Senses relating to logic, rhetoric, etc.
   1. (rhetoric) A proposition or statement supported by arguments.
   2. (by extension) A lengthy essay written to establish the validity of a thesis (sense 1.1), especially one submitted in order to complete the requirements for a non-doctoral degree in the US and a doctoral degree in the UK; a dissertation.
      • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Conclusion”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: , volume II, Salisbury, Wiltshire: B. Collins, for F Newbery, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, →OCLC, pages 218–219:

        I told them of the grave, becoming, and ſublime deportment they ſhould aſſume upon this myſtical occaſion, and read them two homilies and a theſis of my own compoſing, in order to prepare them.

   3. (mathematics, computer science) A conjecture, especially one too vague to be formally stated or verified but useful as a working convention.
   4. (logic) An affirmation, or distinction from a supposition or hypothesis.
   5. (philosophy) In the dialectical method of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: the initial stage of reasoning where a formal statement of a point is developed; this is followed by antithesis and synthesis.
2. Senses relating to music and prosody.
   1. (music, prosody, originally) The action of lowering the hand or bringing down the foot when indicating a rhythm; hence, an accented part of a measure of music or verse indicated by this action; an ictus, a stress.

      Antonym: arsis

   2. (music, prosody, with a reversal of meaning) A depression of the voice when pronouncing a syllables of a word; hence, the unstressed part of the metrical foot of a verse upon which such a depression falls, or an unaccented musical note.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• arsis and thesis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• thesis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• thesis, antithesis, synthesis on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• thesis (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “thesis”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “thesis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Heists, Sethis, heists, shiest, shites, sithes, thises

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin thesis, from Ancient Greek θέσις (thésis, “a proposition, a statement, a thing laid down, thesis in rhetoric, thesis in prosody”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: the‧sis

Noun

thesis f (plural theses or thesissen, diminutive thesisje n)

1. Dated form of these.

   Synonyms: dissertatie, proefschrift, scriptie

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θέσις (thésis, “a proposition, a statement, a thing laid down, thesis in rhetoric, thesis in prosody”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰe.sis/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈte.sis/,

Noun

thesis f (genitive thesis); third declension

1. thesis

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Descendants

References

• “thesis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• thesis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.