HYPOTHECATE

speculate, theorize, theorise, conjecture, hypothesize, hypothesise, hypothecate, suppose

(verb) to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds; “Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in swamps”

hypothecate

(verb) pledge without delivery or title of possession

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

hypothecate (third-person singular simple present hypothecates, present participle hypothecating, simple past and past participle hypothecated)

(transitive) To pledge (something) as surety for a loan; to pawn, mortgage.

(politics, British) To designate a new tax or tax increase for a specific expenditure

Usage notes

• Sometimes wrongly used in place of the word hypothesize.

Source: Wiktionary

Hy*poth"e*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hypothecated; p. pr. & vb. n. Hypothecating.] Etym: [LL. hypothecatus, p.p. of hypothecare to pledge, fr. L. hypotheca pledge, security. See Hypotheca.] (Law)

Definition: To subject, as property, to liability for a debt or engagement without delivery of possession or transfer of title; to pledge without delivery of possession; to mortgage, as ships, or other personal property; to make a contract by bottomry. See Hypothecation, Bottomry. He had found the treasury empty and the pay of the navy in arrear. He had no power to hypothecate any part of the public revenue. Those who lent him money lent it on no security but his bare word. Macaulay.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition