empirical

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: em=pir=i=cal

CIDE DICTIONARY

empirical, a. 

•  Pertaining to, or founded upon, experiment or experience; depending upon the observation of phenomena; versed in experiments.  [1913 Webster]

  "In philosophical language, the term empirical means simply what belongs to or is the product of experience or observation."  [1913 Webster]

  "The village carpenter . . . lays out his work by empirical rules learnt in his apprenticeship."  [1913 Webster]
•  Depending upon experience or observation alone, without due regard to science and theory; -- said especially of medical practice, remedies, etc.; wanting in science and deep insight; as, empiric skill, remedies.  [1913 Webster]

Empirical formula. (Chem.) See under Formula.

Syn. -- See Transcendental.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

empirical, adj.
1 based or acting on observation or experiment, not on theory.
2 Philos. regarding sense-data as valid information.
3 deriving knowledge from experience alone.

Idiom

empirical formula Chem. a formula showing the constituents of a compound but not their configuration.

Derivative

empirically adv.

THESAURUS

empirical

Cyrenaic, Eleatic, Epicurean, Megarian, Stoic, animist, animistic, atomistic, cosmotheistic, cut-and-try, eclectic, eudaemonistic, existential, experiential, experimental, factual, hedonic, hedonist, hedonistic, heuristic, hit-or-miss, humanist, humanistic, idealistic, instrumentalist, materialistic, mechanistic, metaphysical, monistic, naturalistic, nominalist, observed, panlogistical, pantheistic, pilot, positivist, positivistic, practical, pragmatic, pragmatist, probationary, probative, probatory, proving, provisional, rationalistic, realist, realistic, scholastic, sensationalistic, syncretistic, tentative, test, testing, theistic, transcendentalist, transcendentalistic, trial, trial-and-error, trying, utilitarian, verificatory, vitalistic, voluntarist, voluntaristic

ROGET THESAURUS

empirical

Essay

N essay, trial, endeavor, attempt, aim, struggle, venture, adventure, speculation, coup d'essai, debut, probation, essaying, experimental, tentative, empirical, probationary, experimentally, on trial, at a venture, by rule of thumb, if one may be so bold, aut non tentaris aut perfice, chi non s'arrischia non guadagna.

Experiment

N experiment, essay, analysis, screen, trial, tentative method, t=atonnement, verification, probation, experimentum crucis, proof, (demonstration), criterion, diagnostic, test, probe, crucial test, acid test, litmus test, crucible, reagent, check, touchstone, pix, assay, ordeal, ring, litmus paper, curcuma paper, turmeric paper, test tube, analytical instruments, empiricism, rule of thumb, feeler, trial balloon, pilot balloon, messenger balloon, pilot engine, scout, straw to show the wind, speculation, random shot, leap in the dark, analyzer, analyst, assayist, adventurer, experimenter, experimentist, experimentalist, scientist, engineer, technician, subject, experimentee, guinea pig, experimental animal, protocol, experimental method, blind experiment, double-blind experiment, controlled experiment, poll, survey, opinion poll, epidemiological survey, retrospective analysis, retrospective survey, prospective survey, prospective analysis, statistical analysis, literature search, library research, tryout, audition, discovery, measurement, evidence, deduction, induction, abduction, experimental, empirical, probative, probatory, probationary, provisional, analytic, docimastic, tentative, unverified, unproven, speculative, untested, on trial, under examination, on probation, under probation, on one's trial, on approval, check it out, give it a try, see how it goes, Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.