science

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English

Etymology 1

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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

  • IPA(key): /ˈsaɪəns/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (CA):(file)
  • Hyphenation: sci‧ence
  • Rhymes: -aɪəns

Noun

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.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      For by his mightie Science he had seene / The secret vertue of that weapon keene […]
    • (Can we date this quote by Hammond and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      If we conceive God's 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.
    • (Can we date this quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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.]
    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, I Timothy 6:20-21
      O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding vain and profane babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
  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.]
    • 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, 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) The scientific community.
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  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

Since the middle of the 20th century, in English – but not in German – the term science was 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).

Coordinate terms
Abbreviations
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
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See also

Verb

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  1. (transitive, dated) To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis to this entry?)
  2. (transitive, colloquial, humorous) To use science to solve a problem.

Etymology 2

See scion.

Noun

science

  1. Obsolete spelling of scion.

Further reading

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

science f (plural sciences)

  1. science (field of study, etc.)

References

  1. ^ http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/science

Further reading

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French science, from Latin scientia.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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

  • English: science
  • Scots: science

References

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French science.

Noun

science f (plural sciences)

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

Descendants

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin scientia.

Noun

science oblique singular, f (nominative singular science)

  1. knowledge; wisdom

Descendants

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