scientific
- 1Relating to or connected with science or its study.
The journal publishes scientific research from labs around the world.
His career bridged scientific and artistic communities that rarely overlap.
UsageUsually before a noun, scientific research, a scientific journal; a person who works in science is a scientist.
Similaracademic, scholarly, technical
Note
In earlier usage it was often applied to people as well as to work. Edward Carpenter's Pagan and Christian Creeds (1920) speaks of "scientific men," meaning scientists. That phrase now sounds dated, and today the plain noun scientists does the job.
- 2Based on or following the methods of science, such as careful testing, measurement, and accepted procedures.
The survey was not scientific: the company asked only its own loyal customers.
Doctors favor a scientific approach grounded in evidence and repeated trials.
UsageCan be graded, more scientific, not very scientific, and is often used in the negative: the survey was not scientific.
Practice
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Origin
Medieval Latin scientificus, meaning "pertaining to science," passed into Middle French as scientifique, and English took the word over from there.