Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances.
Common examples include ad hoc committees and commissions created at the national or international level for a specific task, and the term is often used to describe arbitration. In other fields, the term could refer to a military unit created under special circumstances, a handcrafted network protocol, a temporary collaboration among geographically-linked franchise locations to issue advertising coupons, or a purpose-specific equation in mathematics or science.
Ad hoc can also function as an adjective describing temporary, provisional, or improvised methods to deal with a particular problem, the tendency of which has given rise to the noun adhocism. This concept highlights the flexibility and adaptability often required in problem-solving across various domains.
In everyday language, "ad hoc" is sometimes used informally to describe improvised or makeshift solutions, emphasizing their temporary nature and specific applicability to immediate circumstances.
Styling
Style guides disagree on whether Latin phrases like ad hoc should be italicized. The trend is not to use italics. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends that familiar Latin phrases that are listed in the Webster's Dictionary, including "ad hoc", not be italicized.Hypothesis
In science and philosophy, ad hoc means the addition of extraneous hypotheses to a theory to save it from being falsified. Ad hoc hypotheses compensate for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form.Scientists are often skeptical of scientific theories that rely on frequent, unsupported adjustments to sustain them. Ad hoc hypotheses are often characteristic of pseudo-scientific subjects such as homeopathy.