empirical

[ em-pir-i-kuhl ]
/ ɛmˈpɪr ɪ kəl /

adjective

derived from or guided by experience or experiment.
depending upon experience or observation alone, without using scientific method or theory, especially as in medicine.
provable or verifiable by experience or experiment.

Origin of empirical

First recorded in 1560–70; empiric + -al1

OTHER WORDS FROM empirical

Example sentences from the Web for empirical

British Dictionary definitions for empirical

empirical
/ (ɛmˈpɪrɪkəl) /

adjective

derived from or relating to experiment and observation rather than theory
(of medical treatment) based on practical experience rather than scientific proof
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)
of or relating to medical quackery

noun

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

Derived forms of empirical

empirically, adverb empiricalness, noun

Medical definitions for empirical

empirical
[ ĕm-pîrĭ-kəl ]

adj.

Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.
Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment.
Of or being a philosophy of medicine emphasizing practical experience and observation over scientific theory.

Other words from empirical

em•piri•cal•ly adv.

Scientific definitions for empirical

empirical
[ ĕm-pîrĭ-kəl ]

Relying on or derived from observation or experiment.