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Webster 1913 Edition

Experiment

Ex-per′i-ment

,
Noun.
[L.
experimentum
, fr.
experiri
to try: cf. OF.
esperiment
,
experiment
. See
Experience
.]
1.
A trial or special observation, made to confirm or disprove something uncertain; esp., one under controlled conditions determined by the experimenter; an act or operation undertaken in order to discover some unknown principle or effect, or to test, establish, or illustrate some hypothesis, theory, or known truth; practical test; proof.
A political
experiment
can not be made in a laboratory, nor determined in a few hours.
J. Adams.
2.
Experience.
[Obs.]
Adam, by sad
experiment
I know
How little weight my words with thee can find.
Milton.

Ex-per′i-ment

(ĕks-pĕr′ĭ-ment)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Experimented
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Experinenting
.]
To make experiment; to operate by test or trial; – often with on, upon, or in, referring to the subject of an experiment; with, referring to the instrument; and by, referring to the means;
as, to
experiment
upon electricity; he
experimented
in plowing with ponies, or by steam power.

Ex-per′i-ment

,
Verb.
T.
To try; to know, perceive, or prove, by trial or experience.
[Obs.]
Sir T. Herbert.

Webster 1828 Edition

Experiment

EXPER'IMENT

,
Noun.
[L. experimentum, from experior, as in experience, which see.]
A trial; an act or operation designed to discover some unknown truth, principle or effect, or to establish it when discovered. Experiments in chimistry disclose the qualities of natural bodies. A series of experiments proves the uniformity of the laws of matter. It is not always safe to trust to a single experiment. It is not expedient to try many experiments in legislation.
A political experiment cannot be made in a laboratory, nor determined in a few hours.

EXPER'IMENT

,
Verb.
I.
To make trial; to make an experiment; to operate on a body in such a manner as to discover some unknown fact, or to establish it when known. Philosophers experiment on natural bodies for the discovery of their qualities and combinations.
1.
To try; to search by trial.
2.
To experience. [Not used.]

EXPER'IMENT

,
Verb.
T.
To try; to know by trial. [Little used.]

Definition 2024

Experiment

Experiment

See also: experiment

German

Noun

Experiment n ‎(genitive Experiments or Experimentes, plural Experimente)

  1. experiment

Declension

experiment

experiment

See also: Experiment

English

Noun

experiment ‎(plural experiments)

  1. A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy of something previously untried.
  2. (obsolete) Experience, practical familiarity with something.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:
      Pilot [...] Vpon his card and compas firmes his eye, / The maisters of his long experiment, / And to them does the steddy helme apply [...].

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

experiment ‎(third-person singular simple present experiments, present participle experimenting, simple past and past participle experimented)

  1. (intransitive) To conduct an experiment.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To experience; to feel; to perceive; to detect.
    • 1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
      The Earth, the which may have carried us about perpetually ... without our being ever able to experiment its rest.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To test or ascertain by experiment; to try out; to make an experiment on.
    • 1481 William Caxton, The Mirrour of the World 1.5.22:
      Til they had experimented whiche was trewe, and who knewe most.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Catalan

Noun

experiment m ‎(plural experiments)

  1. experiment

Related terms

Czech

Noun

experiment m

  1. experiment

Synonyms

Related terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ex‧pe‧ri‧ment

Etymology

From Old French experiment, from Latin experimentum.

Noun

experiment n ‎(plural experimenten, diminutive experimentje n)

  1. experiment

Synonyms

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛksp(ɛ)rɪˈmɛnt/

Noun

experiment n

  1. experiment

Declension

Inflection of experiment 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative experiment experimentet experiment experimenten
Genitive experiments experimentets experiments experimentens

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛkspeʀiˈmɛnt/

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