Church-Turing thesis

proper noun

A hypothesis about the nature of computable functions, stating that a function on the natural numbers can be calculated by an effective method if and only if it is computable by a Turing machine.

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Meanings

proper nounthe Church-Turing thesis
  1. computingA hypothesis about the nature of computable functions, stating that a function on the natural numbers can be calculated by an effective method if and only if it is computable by a Turing machine.

Origin

Named after American mathematician Alonzo Church and British mathematician Alan Turing.

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Cite this entry
APA

Church-Turing thesis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Church-Turing%20thesis

MLA

“Church-Turing thesis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Church-Turing%20thesis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Church-Turing thesis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Church-Turing%20thesis.

Source: Church-Turing thesis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.