Standard Lemma guide

empiricism

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EH0 M P IH1 R AH0 S IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A doctrine which holds that the only or, at least, the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, especially perception by means of the physical senses. (Often contrasted with rationalism.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A pursuit of knowledge purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Research methodology shaped from empirical philosophy (see above), e.g. surveys, statistics, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, political-science, sciences, social-science, social-sciences, sociology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Medicine as practised by an empiric, founded on mere (personal or anecdotal) experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: folk medicine; quackery; charlatanry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: folk medicine, quackery, charlatanry

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

medical practice and advice based on observation and experience in ignorance of scientific findings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quackery

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: medical practice

6

noun

Meaning 6

the application of empirical methods in any art or science

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: investigation, investigating

7

noun

Meaning 7

(philosophy) the doctrine that knowledge derives from experience

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: empiricist philosophy, sensationalism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: philosophical doctrine, philosophical theory

Narrower terms: British empiricism, experimentalism, positivism, logical positivism

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English empiric Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English empiricism From empiric + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: емпиризъм (empirizǎm) — philosophical theory
  • Catalan: empirisme — philosophical theory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 經驗主義 /经验主义 (jīngyànzhǔyì) — philosophical theory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 經驗論 /经验论 (jīngyànlùn) — philosophical theory
  • Czech: empirismus — philosophical theory
  • Dutch: empirisme — philosophical theory
  • Finnish: empirismi — philosophical theory
  • French: empirisme — philosophical theory
  • German: Empirismus — philosophical theory
  • Greek: εμπειρισμός (empeirismós) — philosophical theory
  • Greek: εμπειριοκρατία (empeiriokratía) — philosophical theory
  • Hindi: अनुभववाद (anubhavvād) — philosophical theory
  • Hindi: इंद्रियानुभववाद (indriyānubhavvād) — philosophical theory
  • Icelandic: reynsluhyggja — philosophical theory
  • Icelandic: raunhyggja — philosophical theory
  • Japanese: 経験論 (keikenron) — philosophical theory
  • Japanese: 経験主義 (keikenshugi) — philosophical theory
  • Kazakh: эмпиризм (émpirizm) — philosophical theory
  • Korean: 경험론 (gyeongheomnon) — philosophical theory
  • Polish: empiryzm — philosophical theory
  • Polish: aposterioryzm — philosophical theory
  • Portuguese: empirismo — philosophical theory
  • Romanian: empirism — philosophical theory
  • Russian: эмпиризм (empirizm) — philosophical theory
  • Spanish: empirismo — philosophical theory
  • Swedish: empirism — philosophical theory
  • Tamil: பட்டறிவியம் (paṭṭaṟiviyam) — philosophical theory
  • Thai: ประสบการณ์นิยม — philosophical theory
  • Ukrainian: емпіризм (empiryzm) — philosophical theory
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa kinh nghiệm — philosophical theory
  • German: Empirie — pursuit of knowledge purely through experience
  • German: Empirismus — pursuit of knowledge purely through experience
  • Polish: empiria — pursuit of knowledge purely through experience
  • Ancient Greek: ἐμπειρῐκή (empeirĭkḗ) — practice of medicine founded on experience only
  • Latin: empīricē — practice of medicine founded on experience only