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Theory vs Conceit - What's the difference?

theory | conceit |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between theory and conceit

is that theory is (obsolete) mental conception; reflection, consideration while conceit is (obsolete) to form an idea; to think.

In uncountable|lang=en terms the difference between theory and conceit

is that theory is (uncountable) the underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc, as opposed to its practice while conceit is (uncountable) overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris.

As nouns the difference between theory and conceit

is that theory is (obsolete) mental conception; reflection, consideration while conceit is (obsolete) something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought.

As a verb conceit is

(obsolete) to form an idea; to think.

theory

English

Noun

  • (obsolete) Mental conception; reflection, consideration.
  • * 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , VII.19:
    • As they encrease the hatred of vice in some, so doe they enlarge the theory of wickednesse in all.
  • (sciences) A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
  • * 2002 , Duncan Steel, The Guardian , 23 May 2002:
    • It was only when Einstein's theory' of relativity was published in 1915 that physicists could show that Mercury's "anomaly" was actually because Newton's gravitational ' theory was incomplete.
  • * 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA, p. 118:
    • The world would need additional decades [...] before the Big Bang would begin to move from interesting idea to established theory .
  • * 2009 , (Richard Dawkins), The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution , Bantam, p. 10:
    • Scientists and creationists are understanding the word "theory'" in two very different senses. Evolution is a '''theory''' in the same sense as the heliocentric '''theory'''. In neither case should the word "only" be used, as in "only a ' theory ".
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
    • , author=Michael Riordan , title=Tackling Infinity , volume=100, issue=1, page=86 , magazine= citation , passage=Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories', including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the ' theories .}}
  • (uncountable) The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
  • * 1990 , Tony Bennett, Outside Literature , p. 139:
    • Does this mean, then, that there can be no such thing as a theory of literature?
  • * 1998 , Elizabeth Souritz, The Great History of Russian Ballet :
    • Lopukhov wrote a number of books and articles on ballet theory , as well as his memoirs.
  • (mathematics) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
    • Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.
  • A hypothesis or conjecture.
  • * 1999 , Wes DeMott, Vapors :
    • It's just a theory I have, and I wonder if women would agree. But don't men say a lot about themselves when a short-skirted woman slides out of a car or chair?
  • * 2003 , Sean Coughlan, The Guardian , 21 Jun 2003:
    • The theory is that by stripping costs to the bone, they are able to offer ludicrously low fares.
  • (countable, logic) A set of axioms together with all statements derivable from them. Equivalently, a formal language plus a set of axioms (from which can then be derived theorems).
    • A theory is consistent if it has a model.

    Usage notes

    In scientific discourse, the sense “unproven conjecture” is discouraged (with hypothesis or conjecture preferred), due to unintentional ambiguity and intentional equivocation with the sense “well-developed statement or structure”.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Holonyms

    * (in logic) formal system

    Meronyms

    * (in logic) axioms

    Derived terms

    * acoustic theory * algorithmic information theory * antenna theory * atomic theory * catastrophe theory * category theory * cell theory * chaos theory * circuit theory * complexity theory * computation theory * control theory * critical theory * decision theory * domino theory * extreme value theory * game theory * giant impact theory * graph theory * group theory * in theory * information theory * kinetic theory of gases * knot theory * literary theory * music theory * number theory * opponent-process theory * phlogiston theory * probability theory * proof theory * quantum field theory * rational choice theory * set theory * signal theory * social theory * systems theory * theory of gravity * theory of relativity * theory of truth * Theory X * Theory Y * type theory * value theory * virtue theory

    Related terms

    * theorem * theoretical * theorise, theorize

    See also

    * axiom * postulate * proposition Check translations

    conceit

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (obsolete)

    Noun

  • (obsolete) Something conceived in the mind; an idea, a thought.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • In laughing, there ever procedeth a conceit of somewhat ridiculous.
  • * Bible, Proverbs xxvi. 12
    • a man wise in his own conceit
  • The faculty of conceiving ideas; mental faculty; apprehension.
    • a man of quick conceit
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
    • How often, alas! did her eyes say unto me that they loved! and yet I, not looking for such a matter, had not my conceit open to understand them.
  • Quickness of apprehension; active imagination; lively fancy.
  • * Shakespeare
    • His wit's as thick as Tewksbury mustard; there is no more conceit in him than is in a mallet.
  • (obsolete) Opinion, (neutral) judgment.
  • * 1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
    • By him that me boughte, than quod Dysdayne, / I wonder sore he is in suche cenceyte .
  • (countable) A novel or fanciful idea; a whim.
  • * L'Estrange
    • On his way to the gibbet, a freak took him in the head to go off with a conceit .
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Some to conceit alone their works confine, / And glittering thoughts struck out at every line.
  • * Dryden
    • Tasso is full of conceits which are not only below the dignity of heroic verse but contrary to its nature.
  • (countable, rhetoric, literature) An ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device.
  • (uncountable) Overly high self-esteem; vain pride; hubris.
  • * Cotton
    • Plumed with conceit he calls aloud.
  • Design; pattern.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Derived terms

    * conceited * conceitedly * conceitedness * self-conceit

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To form an idea; to think.
  • * 1643 : , The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
    • Those whose vulgar apprehensions conceit but low of matrimonial purposes.
  • (obsolete) To conceive.
  • * South
    • The strong, by conceiting themselves weak, are therebly rendered as inactive as if they really were so.
  • * Shakespeare
    • One of two bad ways you must conceit me, / Either a coward or a flatterer.

    External links

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