experience English · revision 3658

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1377 (Piers Plowman)|origins=la experīrī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ɪkˈspɪə.ri.ən(t)s/, US /ɪkˈspɪr.i.ən(t)s/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|experience]], [[bor|fro|experience|t=experiment, proof, experience]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) a learned borrowing from [[la|experientia|t=a trial, proof; knowledge gained by repeated trials]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|experiēns|t=enterprising, experienced]], the present participle of [[m|la|experīrī|t=to try, test]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) The verb is formed from [[m|la|ex-|t=out of]] and a lost verb [[m|la|*perīrī|t=to go through]], whose past participle survives in [[m|la|perītus|t=experienced, tested]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) related to [[m|la|perīculum|t=trial, risk]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline and the AHD trace it to [[ine-pro|*per-|t=to try, risk]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is related to [[experiment]], [[expert]] and [[peril]].^(COED 2004)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The actual observation of facts or events as a source of knowledge: 1377, in a version of ''Piers Plowman''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In late Middle English the word also meant “a trial, test” and “an experiment”,^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) senses it shared with ''experiment'' and which became obsolete by the 17th century.^(SOED 2002) The fact of being consciously affected by an event is recorded from 1382,^(OED 1989) and the knowledge that comes from what one has undergone from 1553.^(OED 1989) The meaning “state of having done something and become skilled at it” is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline) and “the events that have happened within one person's knowledge” from 1607.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) In religious use, from 1674, an ''experience'' was a state of mind forming part of the inner religious life.^(OED 1989) The verb first meant “to test, try” in 1533, in Sir Thomas Elyot's writings,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and “to feel, suffer, undergo” from 1588.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) ''Experienced'', “wise from experience”, is from 1569.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1377 – observation as a source of knowledge (''Piers Plowman'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1382 – being consciously affected by something.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1388 – a trial, a test (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1533 – verb, to test, try (Elyot).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1553 – knowledge resulting from what one has undergone.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1569 – ''experienced''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1588 – verb, to feel, undergo.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1607 – what has been experienced; one's history.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1674 – a religious experience.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The perception of an object, thought or emotion through the senses or the mind.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Active involvement in events, and the knowledge or skill gained from it.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An event or series of events that someone lives through.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The whole of the events in a person's or a group's past.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take part in personally; to [[undergo]] or [[feel]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(rare)'' To learn by experience.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[experiencer]]

+ * [[experienceable]]

+ * [[experienceless]]

+ * [[postexperience]]

+ * [[experiential]]

+ * [[experienced]]

+ * [[reexperience]]

+ * [[experience table]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[experiment]]

+ * [[expert]]

+ * [[peril]]

+ * [[empirical]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''experience'' with ''suffer'', ''sustain'', ''taste'' and ''undergo'', all meaning “to meet with personally”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}