Sci

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A commonly abbreviated form that signifies fields of study related to the natural world and scientific inquiry ; serves as a prefix suggesting a relationship to educational disciplines concerned with empirical knowledge ; and reflects a general connection to systematic investigation of facts and principles in various domains of science
2. A shortened form used to represent the academic discipline studying natural phenomena and scientific methods
3. An abbreviated term referring to the systematic study of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentation

Etymology: "Sci" is a clipping: a shortened form of "science" that has become a word in its own right, used on its own in phrases like "sci-fi" and in the noun and adjective senses given here. The clipping is what makes it unusual. Clippings usually survive as slang or informal shorthand, and "sci" is no exception, so the full word is the one carrying the history. The full word, "science", came into Middle English from Old French "science" and "escience", which were themselves drawn from Latin "scientia", meaning "knowledge". That Latin noun was built on the present participle stem of "scire", "to know", so the word's original sense was simply knowing or skill, with no special reference to experiment or nature. Its meaning narrowed over the centuries toward systematic study, which is why a short form now stands for the study of nature.

Synonyms: science, scientific, science fiction, scientism, scientist