How to say "thesis" in Japanese

• 論文ろんぶんJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounCovers 'thesis' as a written academic work: a substantial essay, treatise, or paper, such as one submitted for a degree. When the English word means the document itself, this is the word you want.
  彼かれはその問題もんだいについて論文ろんぶんを書かいた。↗

  He wrote a paper on the subject.
• 命題めいだいCommon
  no-adjectiveCovers 'thesis' as a proposition or claim — the point to be argued, as in logic or philosophy. It does not mean a written thesis; for the academic document, 論文 is the word.
• テーゼCommon
  nounA loanword covering 'thesis' in the sense of a formal statement rather than a written work. For an academic thesis as a document, this is seldom the word you want; use 論文 instead.
  極端きょくたんに言ゆうと、彼かれは、自己じこのテーゼに完全かんぜんに自信じしんを持もっているものが発揮はっきできる虚心きょしん坦懐たんかいさで書かいてはいないのである。↗

  He does not, in short, write with the candor of a man who is completely confident of his thesis.

Use 論文 for a thesis as a written academic work, 命題 for a thesis as a proposition or claim to be argued, and 「テーゼ」, a loanword, for a thesis as a formal statement rather than a written work.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 論文ろんぶんthesis
• 命題めいだいproposition
• テーゼthesis
• 定立ていりつthesis
• 学位論文がくいろんぶんthesis
• 提題ていだいthesis (of an argument)
• 研究論文けんきゅうろんぶんresearch paper
• 正せいthesis (in dialectics)