empirical

American  

[em-pir-i-kuhl] / ɛmˈpɪr ɪ kəl /

adjective

1. derived from or guided by direct experience or by experiment, rather than abstract principles or theory.

   Empirical evidence of changes in kelp consumption was gathered by measuring the bite marks in seaweed fronds.

   Synonyms:

   pragmatic, firsthand, practical

   Antonyms:

   theoretical, secondhand

2. depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, and hence sometimes insufficiently authoritative, especially as in medicine.

   That is nothing but an empirical conclusion with no regard for the laws of thermodynamics.

   Synonyms:

   pragmatic, firsthand, practical

   Antonyms:

   theoretical, secondhand

3. provable or verifiable by experience or experiment, as scientific laws.

   Theoretical physics is criticized for producing complex concepts that are mathematical, not empirical.

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empirical British  

/ ɛmˈpɪrɪkəl /

adjective

1. derived from or relating to experiment and observation rather than theory

2. (of medical treatment) based on practical experience rather than scientific proof

3. philosophy

   1. (of knowledge) derived from experience rather than by logic from first principles Compare a priori a posteriori

   2. (of a proposition) subject, at least theoretically, to verification Compare analytic synthetic

4. of or relating to medical quackery

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noun

1. statistics the posterior probability of an event derived on the basis of its observed frequency in a sample Compare mathematical probability See also posterior probability

empirical Scientific  

/ ĕm-pîr′ĭ-kəl /

1. Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.

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Other Word Forms

• antiempirical adjective
• empirically adverb
• empiricalness noun
• nonempirical adjective
• overempirical adjective
• semiempirical adjective
• unempirical adjective

Etymology

Origin of empirical

First recorded in 1560–70; empiric + -al ¹

Compare meaning

How does empirical compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• empirical vs. theoretical
• empirical vs. molecular formula
• empirical vs. molecular

Example Sentences

Eichmann distanced himself not only from ordinary decency but empirical reality, “that is, against the claim on our thinking attention that all events and facts make by virtue of their existence.”

From Salon

"Models based on physics were too assumption-heavy, while empirical models are too simplistic. We combined both approaches to get interior models that are both "agnostic" or unbiased and yet, are physically consistent."

From Science Daily

The graduate assistant grader gave the essay a zero, noting that it “contradicts itself,” “heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence,” and contains passages that are “offensive.”

From Salon

And yet, to the opponents of apartheid such as Nelson Mandela, Mr. Easterly reminds us, “this accurate empirical statement was beside the point.”

From The Wall Street Journal

First, there is no empirical evidence that any past, present or future event "exists" in the way that things in the world around us exist.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• experimental
• factual
• observational