Science

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsaɪ.əns/

Definitions

1. The systematic study of the natural world through observation, experimentation, and the formulation of testable explanations
2. the body of knowledge acquired through systematic investigation, experimentation, and logical reasoning about the natural and physical world
3. a disciplined method of inquiry involving observation, hypothesis testing, and evidence-based explanation of natural phenomena

Etymology: Before this term described a method of inquiry, it meant simply knowledge. Its Latin ancestor, "scientia", meant knowing or knowledge in general, and Middle English borrowed the word from Old French, where "science" and "escience" carried the same broad sense. Anyone who had mastered a subject or a craft could be said to possess it. The Latin noun grew from "sciens", the present participle of "scire", "to know", so the root idea is plainly knowing. The narrowing to organised study of the natural world, based on observation, experiment and testable explanation, came later, when the word was increasingly reserved for that kind of knowledge.

Synonyms: knowledge, study, discipline, field, branch

Antonyms: ignorance, superstition, unreason