Abductive reasoning, also known as inference to the best explanation, is a type of reasoning that involves forming hypotheses to explain observed phenomena. There are a variety of synonyms for abductive reasoning including retroductive reasoning, explanatory inference, backward reasoning, and conjecture. In retroductive reasoning, the observer starts with the outcome and then works their way back to the cause. Explanatory inference focuses on finding the best explanation for an observed event. Backward reasoning involves working backward from the outcome to identify the steps that led to that outcome. Finally, conjecture involves proposing a theory or hypothesis without direct evidence, often using intuition and logic to drive the explanation. Regardless of the terminology used, all of these approaches involve using reasoning to identify explanations for observed phenomena.