“That’s my hypotenuse.”
That sentence, uttered by a character on a TV show, reminded me how useful it can be in establishing a character’s education level as well as how highly they think of themselves. Lord knows it was not the correct choice.
This word confusion hypotenuse vs hypothesis certainly forced me to think about the spelling, lol.
A hypotenuse is one thing: The longest side of a right triangle, opposite the right angle. That’s it.
A hypothesis is an educated guess or prediction about the relationship between two variables, an idea to be tested, not proven. It must be a testable statement, something that you can support or falsify with observable evidence.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Hypotenuse | Hypothesis |
|---|---|
 — |
 |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: hypotenuses Alternate spelling: hypothenuse |
Noun
Plural: hypotheses |
| The longest side of a right triangle, opposite the right angle
The length of a hypotenuse |
A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation
The antecedent of a conditional proposition A mere assumption or guess |
| Examples: | |
| “Start with a trajectory that’s at a right angle to the hypotenuse (the long side of the triangle)” (Quanta).
“In the second triangle, the unequal angles cause the fake hypotenuse to bend outside the true triangle’s hypotenuse” (Wolfmeyer). “Now measure the angle between the hypotenuse and the table” (Sloman). |
“Each one is a set of questions we’re fascinated by and hypotheses we’re testing” (Bell).
“Mousa’s research hinges on the ‘contact hypothesis’, the idea that positive interactions among rival group members can reduce prejudices” (Gupta). “Do more research on it, come up with a hypothesis as to why it underperforms, and try to improve it” (Benton). His hypothesis is that if he waters his plants daily, they will grow faster. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: hypothesist Verb: counterhypothesis, hypothesise [British], hypothesiser [British], hypothesist, hypothesize [US], hypothesizer [US], subhypothesis |
|
| History of the Word: | |
| Late 16th century, via the Latin hypotenusa from the Greek hupoteinousa (grammē) subtending (line), from the verb hupoteinein from hupo (under) + teinein (stretch). | Late 16th century, via the late Latin from the Greek hupothesis meaning foundation, from hupo (under) + thesis (placing). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Hypotenuse versus Hypothesis
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Apple Dictionary.com
Bell, Katherine. “Introducing Quartz’s New Obsessions.” Quart. 13 Aug 2020. Accessed 11 Apr 2024. <https://qz.com/1891869/quartzs-2020-obsessions-2>.
Benton, Connie. “Guide: How to Effectiely Insorporate Customer Journey Mapping into Your Marketing Strategy.” Search Engine Watch. 14 July 2020. Accessed 11 Apr 2024. <https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2020/07/14/guide-how-to-effectively-incorporate-customer-journey-mapping-into-your-marketing-strategy/>.
Dictionary.com: hypothesis
Gupta, Sujata. “Interfaith Soccer Teams Eased Muslin-Christian Tensions — to a Point.” ScienceNews. 13 Aug 2020. Accessed 11 Apr 2024. <https://www.sciencenews.org/article/interfaith-soccer-muslim-christian-tensions-positive-contact>.
Heilbron, J.L. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (rev.) “Euclid’s Windmill.” Britannica. n.d. Accessed 11 Apr 2024. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Euclids-Windmill-1688351>.
Merriam-Webster: hypotenuse
Quanta Magazine. 15 Feb 2024. Accessed 11 Apr 2024.
Sloman, Leila. Scientific American. 10 Apr 2023. Accessed 11 Apr 2024.
Wolfmeyer, Mark. Popular Mechanics. 25 May 2022. Accessed 11 Apr 2024.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Image from page 93 of The elements of Euclid for the use of schools and colleges: comprising the first two books and portions of the eleventh and twelfth books; with notes and exercises, 1880, courtesy of the Internet Archive Book Images is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Flickr.
