science
/ˈsaɪ.əns/ noun, verb
Forms sciences sciencing scienced
- noun (countable) A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill. “Of course in my opinion Social Studies is more of a science than an art.”
- noun Specifically the natural sciences. “My favorite subjects at school are science, mathematics, and history.”
- noun (uncountable, archaic) Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.
- noun (now only theology) The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.
- noun (uncountable) The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.
- noun (uncountable) Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.
- noun (uncountable, collective) The scientific community.
- noun (euphemistic, with definite article) Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”).
- verb (transitive, dated) To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.
- verb (transitive, colloquial, humorous) To use science to solve a problem.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciēns, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”).
See scion.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Knowledge; knowledge of principles and causes; ascertained truth of facts.
- noun Accumulated and established knowledge, which has been systematized and formulated with reference to the discovery of general truths or the operation of general laws; knowledge classified and made available in work, life, or the search for truth; comprehensive, profound, or philosophical knowledge.
- verb To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct. [R.] Francis.
Etymology [F., fr. L. scientia, fr. sciens, -entis, p.pr. of scire to know. Cf. Conscience, Conscious, Nice.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “science”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details