Theses

How to spell theses

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce theses

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does theses mean?

1. nounMore than one thesis: long research documents written for academic degrees, or formal propositions advanced for argument.

Theses in a sentence

• The library archives every year of doctoral theses on open shelves.

• Two graduate students defended their theses on the same afternoon.

Where does theses come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This is the plural of 'thesis', which English took directly from the Greek thesis, meaning 'a setting down' or 'a proposition put forward'. The Greek noun was built on the verb tithenai, 'to place, put, or set', so a thesis was literally something laid down for discussion or argument. The word passed through Latin, which kept the Greek form, and entered English in the late sixteenth century, first in the sense of a stated position to be defended. Like several other Greek-derived words ending in -is, it forms its plural by changing -is to -es, so one thesis becomes two theses, pronounced with a long final syllable rather than the short hiss of the singular. The same tithenai root also gives us 'hypothesis', 'synthesis', and 'antithesis', all of which pluralise in exactly the same way.

How the word is built

• thes- (from Greek thesis: a setting down, proposition)
• -es (plural, replacing the singular -is ending)