scientific

adjective

sci·en·tif·ic | \ ˌsī-ən-ˈti-fik

Definition of scientific

1 : of, relating to, or exhibiting the methods or principles of science

2 : conducted in the manner of science or according to results of investigation by science : practicing or using thorough or systematic methods scientific advertising scientific baby care a scientific boxer

Other Words from scientific More Example Sentences Learn More about scientific

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Examples of scientific in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But even that’s not particularly surprising given that the scientific community was plunged, in those early weeks, into the fog of war with a once-in-a-century pandemic. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 8 June 2021 As time evolved and as more virologists looked more carefully at this, the judgment of the scientific community is there's actually nothing that remarkable about this virus. — CBS News, 6 June 2021 Initially, much of the scientific community said the lab leak theory, while possible, was unlikely. — Author: Matt Viser, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Anchorage Daily News, 6 June 2021 Achieving this goal would be a crucial achievement for the scientific community and humanity itself. — Don Lincoln, CNN, 3 June 2021 Loeb explained that the scientific community often ridicules the idea of alien existence. — Fox News, 2 June 2021 In the blink of an eye, interest in both phosphine and Venus—from the public, media and scientific community—exploded. — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 2 June 2021 The advocacy by people with the disease and their families in the last couple of years has changed the dialogue with the F.D.A. and drug companies and scientific community. — New York Times, 1 June 2021 Everyone—the conservatives, the liberals, and the dissenters alike—had an interest in describing the scientific community as moving with the coherence and self-certainty of a closed fist. — Benjamin Wallace-wells, The New Yorker, 27 May 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scientific.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for scientific

borrowed from Middle French and Medieval Latin; Middle French sientifique, scientifique, borrowed from Medieval Latin scientificus "producing knowledge, relating to knowledge" (translating Greek epistēmonikós), from Latin scientia "knowledge, science" + -ficus -fic

Note: The Medieval Latin transition in sense from "producing knowledge" to "relating to knowledge" (in the text of a translation of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics) is described in detail in the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition.

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