science

American  

[sahy-uhns] / ˈsaɪ əns /

noun

• sciences
  plural

1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.

   the mathematical sciences.

2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.

3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.

4. systematized knowledge in general.

5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.

6. a particular branch of knowledge.

7. skill, especially reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency.

   Synonyms:

   discipline, method, technique, art

---

science British  

/ ˈsaɪəns /

noun

1. the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms

2. the knowledge so obtained or the practice of obtaining it

3. any particular branch of this knowledge

   the pure and applied sciences

4. any body of knowledge organized in a systematic manner

5. skill or technique

6. archaic knowledge

---

science Scientific  

/ sī′əns /

1. The investigation of natural phenomena through observation, theoretical explanation, and experimentation, or the knowledge produced by such investigation.

2. ◆ Science makes use of the scientific method, which includes the careful observation of natural phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis, the conducting of one or more experiments to test the hypothesis, and the drawing of a conclusion that confirms or modifies the hypothesis.

3. See Note at hypothesis

---

Usage

Spelling tips for science The word science is hard to spell for two reasons. It uses two letters to make an [ s ] sound, sc-. It is also an exception to the classic rule: I before E, except after C. In this case, the rule does not apply. How to spell science: First, remember that you learn science in school, another hard word to spell that also starts with sc. Second, remember that science doesn't follow the classic “I before E except after C” rule because the i is pronounced separately from the e that follows it (resulting in a two-syllable word), instead of being pronounced together as a single vowel sound.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonscience
  noun
• subscience
  noun
• antiscience
  adjective
• interscience
  adjective
• proscience
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sciences
  plural

Etymology

Origin of science

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin scientia “knowledge,” equivalent to scient- (stem of sciēns “knowing,” present participle of scīre “to know”) + -ia -ia

Explanation

Science is the field of study concerned with discovering and describing the world around us by observing and experimenting. Biology, chemistry, and physics are all branches of science. Science is an "empirical" field, that is, it develops a body of knowledge by observing things and performing experiments. The meticulous process of gathering and analyzing data is called the "scientific method," and we sometimes use science to describe the knowledge we already have. Science is also what's involved in the performance of something complicated: "the science of making a perfect soufflé."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

science sciences

“We’re at a cultural tipping point,” says William Doherty, a therapist and professor emeritus of family social science at the University of Minnesota.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Then he paid high school students to write on the papyrus using passages from "Star Wars," the Bible, and a quote from the 1960s science fiction television show "The Outer Limits."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Giger’s nightmarish vision to moviegoers, the creature still looks like nothing else in science fiction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Some of the most AI-exposed majors included computer science, computer engineering and language majors, researchers said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Ms. Freeman, the science teacher and head of the menagerie, peered at Coal and Door through silver-framed glasses as they stumbled in behind everyone else, still talking.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Social work, animal sciences as well as hospitality and administrative management also faced little exposure.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

If the mRNA business takes off, Tempus could have a powerful new entry point into MRD, explains Douglas Eby, CEO of Bioaxia, a life sciences value investment firm that owns Tempus and Personalis shares.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Faculty members in humanities, social sciences and arts have also weighed in, saying that verbal reasoning and writing skills were lacking too.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Mike Searle, a professor of earth sciences at Oxford University, said that this whole process - from landslide to flood - could have taken hours or even days.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

By this, I mean the following: if you consider the major questions raging through the biological sciences in the late nineteenth century, heredity does not rank particularly high on that list.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• art
• discipline
• education
• information
• learning
• skill
• system
• technique