Theory1. (n.) A doctrine, or scheme of things, which terminates in speculation or contemplation, without a view to practice; hypothesis; speculation.
2. (n.) An exposition of the general or abstract principles of any science; as, the theory of music.
3. (n.) The science, as distinguished from the art; as, the theory and practice of medicine.
4. (n.) The philosophical explanation of phenomena, either physical or moral; as, Lavoisier's theory of combustion; Adam Smith's theory of moral sentiments.
Thesaurus Entries
apprehension, assumption, attitude, base, basis, body of theory, climate of opinion, common belief, community sentiment, conceit, concept, conception, conclusion, conjecture, consensus gentium, consideration, estimate, estimation, ethos, explanation, eye, fancy, feeling, general belief, grounds, guess, guesswork, harmonics, harmony, hunch, hypothesis, idea, image, imago, impression, intellectual object, judgment, lights, melodics, memory-trace, mental image, mental impression, mind, music, music theory, musicality, musicography, musicology, mystique, notion, observation, opinion, perception, perhaps, personal judgment, point of view, popular belief, position, posture, premise, presentiment, presumption, prevailing belief, public belief, public opinion, reaction, recept, reflection, representation, rhythmics, sentiment, sight, speculation, stance, supposal, suppose, supposition, surmise, suspicion, tentative explanation, theoretical structure, there, thinking, thither, thitherward, thought, understanding, unified theory, view, way of thinking, yon, yonder