empiric

[em-pir-ik]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR empiric ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who follows an empirical method.

a quack; charlatan.

adjective

Origin of empiric

1520–30; < Latin empīricus < Greek empeirikós experienced, equivalent to em- em-² + peir- (stem of peirân to attempt) + -ikos -ic

Related formsan·ti·em·pir·ic, noun, adjectivenon·em·pir·ic, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for empiric

factual, experimental, observational, hypocrite, empiric, impersonator, cheat, faker, sham, fake, sharper, actor, mountebank, imitator, shyster, phony, pretender, quack, fraud, trickster

Examples from the Web for empiric

Contemporary Examples of empiric

The count considered Lincoln an “honest man of nature, perhaps an empiric, doctoring with innocent juices from herbs.”
President Lincoln’s Twitter Mole
Kevin Peraino
October 26, 2013

Historical Examples of empiric

He appears to prefer the empiric method in love as in philosophy.
Tales From Two Hemispheres
Hjalmar Hjorth Boysen
Cherokee medicine is an empiric development of the fetich idea.
The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees
James Mooney
No institutions or principles are spared its empiric handling.
The Collector
Henry T. Tuckerman
He was by no means an empiric, as some were whom Charles II.
A History of Epidemics in Britain, Volume II (of 2)
Charles Creighton
He re-told the insult put upon himself in the epithet of empiric.
The Sunset Trail
Alfred Henry Lewis

British Dictionary definitions for empiric

empiric

noun

a person who relies on empirical methods

a medical quack; charlatan

adjective

a variant of empirical

Word Origin for empiric

C16: from Latin empīricus, from Greek empeirikos practised, from peiran to attempt

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 empiric

adj.

c.1600, from Latin empiricus "a physician guided by experience," from Greek empeirikos "experienced," from empeiria "experience," from empeiros "skilled," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + peira "trial, experiment," from PIE *per- "to try, risk." Originally a school of ancient physicians who based their practice on experience rather than theory. Earlier as a noun (1540s) in reference to the sect, and earliest (1520s) in a sense "quack doctor" which was in frequent use 16c.-19c.

empiric in Medicine

empiric

[ĕm-pîr′ĭk]

n.

One who is guided by practical experience rather than precepts or theory.

An unqualified or dishonest practitioner; a charlatan.

adj.

Empirical.

Relating to a school of ancient Greek medicine in which a physician relied on experience and precedent in the observation and treatment of disease, and on analogical reasoning in discovering new diseases.