Dictionary.com
definitions

empirical

[em-pir-i-kuhl]
adjective
  1. derived from or guided by experience or experiment.
  2. depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, especially as in medicine.
  3. provable or verifiable by experience or experiment.

Origin of empirical

First recorded in 1560–70; empiric + -al1
Related formsem·pir·i·cal·ly, adverbem·pir·i·cal·ness, nounan·ti·em·pir·i·cal, adjectivean·ti·em·pir·i·cal·ly, adverbnon·em·pir·i·cal, adjectivenon·em·pir·i·cal·ly, adverbo·ver·em·pir·i·cal, adjectiveo·ver·em·pir·i·cal·ly, adverbsem·i·em·pir·i·cal, adjectivesem·i·em·pir·i·cal·ly, adverbun·em·pir·i·cal, adjectiveun·em·pir·i·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for empirical

1, 2. practical, firsthand, pragmatic.

Antonyms for empirical

1, 2. secondhand, theoretical.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for nonempirical

empirical

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 principlesCompare a priori, a posteriori
    2. (of a proposition) subject, at least theoretically, to verificationCompare analytic (def. 4), synthetic (def. 4)
  4. of or relating to medical quackery
noun
  1. statistics the posterior probability of an event derived on the basis of its observed frequency in a sampleCompare mathematical probability See also posterior probability
Derived Formsempirically, adverbempiricalness, noun
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 nonempirical

empirical

adj.

1560s, from empiric + -al (1).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
nonempirical in Medicine

empirical

[ĕm-pîr′ĭ-kəl]
adj.
  1. Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.
  2. Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment.
  3. Of or being a philosophy of medicine emphasizing practical experience and observation over scientific theory.
Related formsem•pir′i•cal•ly adv.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
nonempirical in Science

empirical

[ĕm-pîr′ĭ-kəl]
  1. Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.