English
science
Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈsaɪ.əns/, enPR: sīʹ-əns
Noun

science

  1. (countable) A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill. [from 14th c.]
    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 […]
    • 1654, H[enry] Hammond, Of Fundamentals in a Notion Referring to Practise, London: […] J[ames] Flesher for Richard Royston, […], →OCLC ↗:
      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.]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 1 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.]
    • 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.
    • 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.
  6. (uncountable) Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.
  7. (uncountable, collective) The scientific community.
  8. (euphemism, with definite article) Synonym of sweet science
    • 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.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

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

See scion.

Noun

science

  1. Obsolete spelling of scion


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