Theory vs Rule - What's the difference?
theory | rule |
(obsolete) Mental conception; reflection, consideration.
* 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , VII.19:
(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:
* 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA, p. 118:
* 2009 , (Richard Dawkins), The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution , Bantam, p. 10:
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
, author=Michael Riordan
, title=Tackling Infinity
, volume=100, issue=1, page=86
, magazine=
(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:
* 1998 , Elizabeth Souritz, The Great History of Russian Ballet :
(mathematics) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
A hypothesis or conjecture.
* 1999 , Wes DeMott, Vapors :
* 2003 , Sean Coughlan, The Guardian , 21 Jun 2003:
(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 regulation, law, guideline.
* Tillotson
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= A ruler; device for measuring, a straightedge, a measure.
* South
A straight line , especially one lying across a paper as a guide for writing.
A regulating principle.
* c. 1604, William Shakespeare, All's well that ends well , Act I, scene I:
The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.
* Bible, Hebrews xiii. 17
* Alexander Pope
A normal condition or state of affairs.
(obsolete) Conduct; behaviour.
* Shakespeare
(legal) An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
(math) A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
(printing, dated) A thin plate of brass or other metal, of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work.
To regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over.
* , chapter=13
, title= (slang) To excel.
To mark (paper or the like) with (lines).
To decide judicially.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=
, volume=189, issue=2, page=10, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice.
* Atterbury
As a noun theory
is (obsolete) mental conception; reflection, consideration.As a verb rule is
.theory
English
Noun
- As they encrease the hatred of vice in some, so doe they enlarge the theory of wickednesse in all.
- 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.
- The world would need additional decades [...] before the Big Bang would begin to move from interesting idea to established theory .
- 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 ".
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 .}}
- Does this mean, then, that there can be no such thing as a theory of literature?
- Lopukhov wrote a number of books and articles on ballet theory , as well as his memoirs.
- Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.
- 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?
- The theory is that by stripping costs to the bone, they are able to offer ludicrously low fares.
- 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 alsoHolonyms
* (in logic) formal systemMeronyms
* (in logic) axiomsDerived 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 theorySee also
* axiom * postulate * proposition Check translationsrule
English
Noun
(en noun)- We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives.
T time, passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them
- A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule .
- There's little can be said in 't; 'Tis against the rule of nature.
- Obey them that have the rule over you.
- His stern rule the groaning land obeyed.
- My rule is to rise at six o'clock.
- This uncivil rule ; she shall know of it.
- (Wharton)
- a rule for extracting the cube root
Derived terms
* exception that proves the rule * golden rule * rule of action * rule of law * rule of thumb * silver rule * slide rule * there is an exception to every ruleVerb
(rul)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
Karen McVeigh
US rules human genes can't be patented, passage=The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.}}
- That's a ruled case with the schoolmen.