heuristic
[hyoo-ris-tik or, often, yoo-]
- serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
- encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
- of, relating to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
- Computers, Mathematics. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
- a heuristic method of argument.
- the study of heuristic procedure.
Origin of heuristic
1815–25; < New Latin heuristicus, equivalent to Greek heur(ískein) to find out, discover + Latin -isticus -istic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
heuristic
- helping to learn; guiding in discovery or investigation
- (of a method of teaching) allowing pupils to learn things for themselves
- maths science philosophyusing or obtained by exploration of possibilities rather than by following set rules
- computingdenoting a rule of thumb for solving a problem without the exhaustive application of an algorithma heuristic solution
- (plural) the science of heuristic procedure
Word Origin
C19: from New Latin heuristicus, from Greek heuriskein to discover
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for heuristically
heuristic
adj.
"serving to discover or find out," 1821, irregular formation from Greek heuretikos "inventive," related to heuriskein "to find" (from PIE *were- "to find;" cf. Old Irish fuar "I have found") + -istic. As a noun, from 1860.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper