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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2026 is:
postulate • \PAHSS-chuh-layt\ • verb
Postulate is a formal word used to mean “to suggest something, such as an idea or theory, especially in order to start or continue a discussion.”
// Scientists have postulated the existence of water on the planet’s largest moon.
Examples:
“Based on their findings, researchers postulate that Homo sapiens reacted better to lead exposure evolutionarily than Neanderthals, a species that were close relatives to Homo sapiens and that went extinct around 40,000 years ago.” — Mason Leath, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2025
Did you know?
When you postulate an idea or theory you suggest that it is true especially for the purposes of an argument or discussion. The word postulate is mostly at home in formal and academic contexts, but don’t let that stop you from postulating, for example, that takeout for dinner makes sense given the cook’s delayed return home from work, or that a thunderstorm is imminent given the cumulonimbus building on the horizon. This “hypothesize” sense of postulate emerged in the early 18th century, but the verb first appeared in English centuries earlier in ecclesiastical contexts, as recorded in our Unabridged dictionary. To postulate someone, according to this sense of the word, was to request that a higher authority in the church sanction their promotion even though they would otherwise be disqualified by church rules or regulations.
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