Late Latinhypothesis, from Ancient Greekὑπόθεσις(hupóthesis, “base, basis of an argument, supposition”), literally “a placing under”, itself from ὑποτίθημι(hupotíthēmi, “I set before, suggest”), from ὑπό(hupó, “below”) + τίθημι(títhēmi, “I put, place”).