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''empirical'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''empirical'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260831192021-00-⌔

empirical - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

empirical (comparative more empirical, superlative most empirical)

  • Pertaining to or based on experience, as opposed to theory.
    • ✤ Antonym: theoretical
    • ✤ The lengths were calculated according to the empirical rules of the trade.
    • ✤ For some presumptive diagnoses, empirical antibiotic therapy begins immediately, whereas specific antibiotic therapy must await the results of the culture and sensitivity test.
    • ✤ The village carpenter […] lays out his work by empirical rules learnt in his apprenticeship.1
  • Pertaining to, derived from, or testable by observations made using the physical senses or using instruments which extend the senses.
  • (philosophy of science) Verifiable by means of scientific experimentation.
    • ✤ Antonyms: anecdotal, theoretical
    • ✤ demonstrable with empirical evidence

Noun

empirical (plural empiricals)

  • A measurement or result achieved by empirical means.

Etymology

From empiric + -al.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA: /ɪmˈpɪɹɪkəl/, /ɛmˈpɪɹɪkəl/
  • Hyphenation: em‧pi‧ri‧cal

Printed 2026-08-31.

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Footnotes

  1. 1861, Herbert Spencer, Education: ↩

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Secondary

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