Dictionary meaning of the word science

Last Updated:
8 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences

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English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciens, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ.əns/, enPR: sīʹ-əns
• Hyphenation: sci‧ence
• Rhymes: -aɪəns

Noun[edit]

science (countable and uncountable, plural sciences)

1. (countable) A particular discipline or branch of learning, especially one dealing with measurable or systematic principles rather than intuition or natural ability. [from 14th c.]

   • 2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

     Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

   Of course in my opinion Social Studies is more of a science than an art.

2. Specifically the natural sciences.

   My favorite subjects at school are science, mathematics, and history.

3. (uncountable, archaic) Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area. [from 14th c.]
   • If we conceive God’s sight or science, before the creation, to be extended to all and every part of the world, seeing everything as it is, […] his science or sight from all eternity lays no necessity on anything to come to pass.

   • 1819, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Hamlet

     Shakespeare’s deep and accurate science in mental philosophy

4. (now only theology) The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth. [from 14th c.]
5. (uncountable) The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline. [from 18th c.]

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201:

     ‘I always ask leave, in the interests of science, to measure the crania of those going out there,’ he said.

   • 1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine‎^[1]:

     «That this use should be destructive is no doubt very deplorable, but Science knows no distinctions of the sort, but follows knowledge wherever it may lead.»

   • 1931 November 15, Winston Churchill, “Fifty Years Hence”, in Maclean’s‎^[2]:

     What is it that has produced this new prodigious speed of man? Science is the cause. Her feeble groping fingers lifted here and there, often trampled underfoot, often frozen in isolation, have now become a vast organized, united, class-conscious army marching forward upon all the fronts toward objectives none may measure or define.

   • 1951 January 1, Albert Einstein, letter to Maurice Solovine, as published in Letters to Solovine (1993)

     I have found no better expression than «religious» for confidence in the rational nature of reality […] Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.

   • 2012 January 1, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 87:

     In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.

6. (uncountable) Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.

   • 2001 September, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Over the rainbow”, in Natural History, volume 110, number 7, page 30:

     While much good science has come from the Hubble telescope (including the most reliable measure to date for the expansion rate of the universe), you would never know from media accounts that the foundation of our cosmic knowledge continues to flow primarily from the analysis of spectra and not from looking at pretty pictures.

7. (uncountable, collective) The scientific community.

   • 2008, Dara Ó Briain Talks Funny – Live in London, United Kingdom, published 2008, spoken by stand-up comedian (Dara Ó Briain):

     Science knows it doesn’t know everything; otherwise, it’d stop.

   • 2020 September 14, “As Trump Again Rejects Science, Biden Calls Him a ‘Climate Arsonist’”, in New York Times‎^[3]:

     With wildfires raging across the West, climate change took center stage in the race for the White House on Monday as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called President Trump a “climate arsonist” while the president said that “I don’t think science knows” what is actually happening.

   • 2021 April 27, Amanda Hess, “Inject the Vaccine Fan Fiction Directly Into My Veins”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:

     There are plenty of earnestly respectful vaccine selfies, where the inoculated person bares a shoulder and thanks science for their shot.

   • 2021 June 3, Katherine Eban, quoting Robert Redfield, “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins”, in Vanity Fair‎^[5]:

     “I expected it from politicians. I didn’t expect it from science.”

8. (euphemistic, with definite article) Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”)
   • 1816, The art and practice of English boxing (page v)

     From a conviction, that the science is universally understood, the strong are taught humility, and the weak confidence. Many have laughed at the idea, that Boxing is of national service, but they have laughed at the expence^[sic] of truth.

   • 1888, William Edwards, Art of Boxing and Science of Self-Defense:

     […] for not a blow or guard in boxing will repay you more than the cross-counter, which may well be called the sheet-anchor of the science.

Usage notes[edit]

Since the middle of the 20th century, the term science is normally used to indicate the natural sciences (e.g., chemistry), the social sciences (e.g., sociology), and the formal sciences (e.g., mathematics). In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term was broader and encompassed scholarly study of the humanities (e.g., grammar) and the arts (e.g., music).

Synonyms[edit]

• sci
• sci.

Hyponyms[edit]

Coordinate terms[edit]

• art

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• science on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb[edit]

science (third-person singular simple present sciences, present participle sciencing, simple past and past participle scienced)

1. (transitive, dated) To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.

   • 1742, Philip Francis, Odes, Epodes, and Carmen Seculare of Horace in Latin and English:

     I mock’d at all religious Fear, Deep-scienced in the mazy Lore Of mad Philosophy

2. (transitive, colloquial, humorous) To use science to solve a problem.

Etymology 2[edit]

See scion.

Noun[edit]

science

1. Obsolete spelling of scion

Further reading[edit]

• science on Wikiquote.Wikiquote
• «science» in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 276.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French science, from Old French science, escience, borrowed from Latin scientia.^[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /sjɑ̃s/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s
• Homophone: sciences

Noun[edit]

science f (plural sciences)

1. (literary or archaic) knowledge
2. science (field of study, etc.)

Derived terms[edit]

[edit]

• scientificité
• scientifique
• scientiste

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “science”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• scyence, syens, sciens, sciense, sience

Etymology[edit]

From Old French science, from Latin scientia.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /siːˈɛns(ə)/, /siˈɛns(ə)/

Noun[edit]

science (plural sciences)

1. facts, knowledge; that which is known:
   1. A science; the body of knowledge composing a specific discipline.
   2. learnt knowledge, especially from written sources.
   3. applied or situational knowledge.
   4. truth, reality, verified information.
2. One’s faculty of finding information; knowing or insight
3. One’s faculty of making sound decisions; sagaciousness.
4. One’s aptitude or learning; one’s knowledge (in a field).
5. A non-learned discipline, pursuit, or field.
6. (rare) verifiability; trust in knowledge.

Descendants[edit]

• English: science
• Scots: science

References[edit]

• “scī̆ence, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-24.

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French science.

Noun[edit]

science f (plural sciences)

1. science (field of study, etc.)
2. knowledge

Descendants[edit]

• French: science

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• escience

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin scientia.

Noun[edit]

science f (nominative singular science)

1. knowledge; wisdom

Descendants[edit]

• → Middle English: science
  • English: science
    • → Japanese: サイエンス
    • → Malay: sains
      • → Indonesian: sains
    • → Swahili: sayansi
• Middle French: science
  • French: science
    • → Khmer: ស្យង់ (syɑng)
• Norman: scienche

Word	SCIENCE
Character	7
Hyphenation	sci ence
Pronunciations	/ˈsaɪəns/

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What do we mean by science?

The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena. noun

Such activities restricted to a class of natural phenomena. noun

A systematic method or body of knowledge in a given area. noun

Knowledge, especially that gained through experience. noun

Knowledge;comprehension or understanding of facts or principles. noun

Knowledge gained by systematic observation, experiment, and reasoning; knowledge coördinated, arranged, and systematized; also, the prosecution of truth as thus known, both in the abstract and as a historical development. noun

Knowledge regarding any special group of objects, coördinated, arranged, and systematized; what is known concerning a subject, systematically arranged; a branch of knowledge: as, the science of botany, of astronomy, of etymology, of metaphysics; mental science; physical science; in a narrow sense, one of the physical sciences, as distinguished from mathematics, metaphysics, etc. noun

Art derived from precepts or based on principles; skill resulting from training; special, exceptional, or preëminent skill. noun

Trade; occupation. noun

Synonyms and Art, Science. See art. noun

A so-called system of healing, which aims at a cnre of all physical ailments by educating the mind of the patient in certain directions. The mind is supposed to be trained to exclnde every idea of the existence of any real discomfort, on the ground that all such discomfort is the result of abnormal mental conditions; the mind being properly trained to ignore the body, no discomfort exists, since the mind does not admit it. The system has many variations, but in general is, evidently, a form of mind-cure or faith-cure. noun

To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct. transitive verb

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. noun

Especially, such knowledge when it relates to the physical world and its phenomena, the nature, constitution, and forces of matter, the qualities and functions of living tissues, etc.; — called also natural science, and physical science. noun

Any branch or department of systematized knowledge considered as a distinct field of investigation or object of study. noun

Art, skill, or expertness, regarded as the result of knowledge of laws and principles. noun

See under Comparative, and Inductive. noun

A particular discipline or branch of learning, especially one dealing with measurable or systematic principles rather than intuition or natural ability.

Specifically the natural sciences.

Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.

The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.

The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.

Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.

(collective) The scientific community.

Something that works, bitches. Urban Dictionary

The art of explanation Urban Dictionary

What she blinded me with. whoever «she» could be. Urban Dictionary

Seeing how many things you can burn with a laser Urban Dictionary

Science is an empirical proccess through which one attempts to arrive at general conclusions concerning the Universe. Scientific arguments develop inductively, meaning that by multiple observations of certain phenomena, variables are measured and causally linked to each other. Continuous validation of hypotheses (which, unlike many think, are derived from previous observation) leads to the formulation of a theory, which is then scrutinised so as to be accepted or falsified. Falsifiability is a key concept, as assumptions that cannot be proven wrong are not considered scientific -since after the formulation of a theory, one has general statements at their disposal which apply to specific instances; also known as «predictions» of this theory. If so much as one of them is falsified, the theory is refined, or scrapped altogether. By experimentation, mathematical relation between variables are estabilished, while the whole process is repeated ad infinitum, so that theories are accepted or cast away according to their accuracy in describing the natural world.
There are certain misconceptions about the scientific method. One of the most usually claimed is that science, too, depends on blind faith. On the contrary, the only «faith» that exists in science is that the Universe has some laws governing the reaction between matter and energy, and that we, as humans, are able to understand it. Apart from that, as stated above, any unwarranted claim is met with a demand for evidence -natural, observable, objective data. Every formally defined system -including mathematics, heavily used in science- contain some axioms, but these can be regarded as more of definitions that assumptions.
Another false impression is that scientists are a group of back-patting individuals. This is simply not true, as there is a quite high level of competition amongst them. This is, of course, not a problem with the method per se, but rather human nature, which is unrelated. In fact, it is useful, as it speeds scientific advancements, while, unfortunately, leading to some occurances of fraud. However, those are generally uncovered due to scientific rigor, peer reviews, and the like.
A gross -and, sadly, quite common- misconception has to do with the meaning of the term «theory». Some believe that it is a synonym for «assumption», while, in science jargon, it is an explanation of the facts. The facts are objective, while the theories attempt to link them and find relations between parameters. The colloquial use of the term differs, of course.
Moreover, indoctrination and conformism really have to do very little with science, since it is simply a tool to understand the world around us. Going against a well-established theory is not anti-conformisting nor intellectually meritable, unless one can provide rational or empiric warrants.
Lastly, some persons regard science and scientific laws/theories to be prescriptive, meaning that they are supposed to provide a moral framework of some sort. On the contrary, scientific laws are descriptive, dexcribing reality in the most accurate way possible. They document cold, hard facts and the causes of phenomena. While it is true that such scientific conclusions can be used to further an agenda, that is not their purpose.
Long story short: science was basically born the day a philosopher called Archimedes woke up and said, «OK, guys, stop binge-eating and philosophising; we COULD get out and see if we’re correct, right?» (I love to joke about my ancestors) He did not follow his own advice, but it was a start, with Galileo, Newton and then Einstein and all the modern scientists following, adding to the definition of the scientific method.
Science is all the above. It is not a religion, an ideology, a doctrine, a belief system or a faith. It is an empirical inductive model to arrive at conclusions regarding the laws governing the Universe. Nothing more, nothing less.
And, one last thing; I implore you, never, ever confuse the scientific method with the applications of it. Never. Urban Dictionary

(n.) something beyond your range of knowledge, experience, or realm of expertice. Used sarcastically. Urban Dictionary

The focus of desire for learning and searching, as well as the reason why some lives (like mine) get rotten in laboratories. Urban Dictionary

A method of understanding the natural world through observation and experimentation.
Despite many claims to the contrary, it is not immune to a priori assumptions or worship. Urban Dictionary

If i blow hooo cold air come out if i blow haaa hot air come out, science. Urban Dictionary

Something that, according to system of a down , has failed the world… ^o)… yeah .. lol Urban Dictionary