scientific

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌsaɪ.ənˈtɪf.ɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French scientifique or directly from Medieval Latin scientificus (“pertaining to science, producing knowledge”),^[2][3][4] from Latin scientia (“knowledge”) and -ficus “making, doing”, from facere “to make, do”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- (“to set, put”).^[2] The Latin word was first used to translate Greek epistēmonikós “making knowledge” in Aristotle's Ethics.^[2][5] The OED remarks on its late appearance in English, given that Aquinas, Dante and Oresme used it.^[3] It is related to science and scientist.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Concerned with the acquisition of accurate and systematic knowledge: 1589 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1580s in Etymonline.^[6][3][2] Its early use described the liberal arts as opposed to the mechanical arts.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Of a proof, “producing knowledge, demonstrative”, it is from 1637.^[6][7] “Guided by the principles of science”, and so “learned, skilful”, is from the 1670s,^[2][6] “of or used in science” from 1722,^[2][6] and “according to the rules of science, systematic” from 1794.^[2][6] In the United States it was used of Christian Science (1875).^[6] Scientist was formed in 1834.^[3]

Timeline

• 1589 – concerned with science.^[6][3]
• 1637 – of a proof.^[6]
• 1678 – based on science.^[6]
• 1722 – of science.^[2][6]
• 1794 – systematic.^[2][6]
• 1834 – scientist.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or used in science.
2. Following the methods or principles of science; systematic and exact.

Word family

• scientifically
• quasi-scientific
• antiscientific
• counterscientific
• nonscientific
• prescientific
• scientize
• superscientific

Related words

• science
• scientist
• conscience
• nescience
• -fic

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster