empiric
- adjective
- /ɛmˈpɪrɪk/
- Archaic
:
empírico
- In the past, many treatments were considered empiric, lacking any scientific backing or modern medical understanding.
Examples
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His empiric knowledge of herbal remedies often led him to recommend treatments that were untested by modern science.
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The doctor used an empiric approach, treating patients based on previous experience rather than established methods.
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Empiric fallacies can be laid in part to the aesthetic determinism that culminated in the industrial revolution.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
18
5.1
Not based on careful tests and reliable facts
3
9.3
Ideas or methods that look like real science but have no proof
1
4.6
Not based on science or scientific evidence
Not based on careful tests or reliable proof
Does not use observation or real-world facts
Antonyms
How Scientific
Surface Forms
Morphology
empiric = empir + ic
Although formed with the same elements, the historical sense 'practitioner of quack medicine' involves a specialized, shifted meaning that learners cannot derive from the components.
Etymology
Empiric once described medical people who relied on the Greek root empeiria ('experience') and used trial and error instead of careful tests. That's why in history it could mean unsafe or unproven practice.