scientific theory

1. 1.

   a theory that explains scientific observations

   “scientific theories must be falsifiable”

   Broadertheory

   Narrowerbig-bang theorynebular hypothesisplanetesimal hypothesissteady state theorytheory of gravitationorganicismatomic theorycell theorywave theorycorpuscular theory

   Part ofscience

Questions about scientific theory

What does scientific theory mean?

scientific theory means "a theory that explains scientific observations".

Is scientific theory a common word?

scientific theory is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.