scientific Hear it!

scientific Definition

sci·en·tific (sī′ən tifik)

adjective

  1. of or dealing with science scientific study
  2. used in or for natural science scientific apparatus
  3. based on, using, or in accordance with, the principles and methods of science; systematic and exact scientific classification
    1. done according to methods gained by systematic training scientific boxing
    2. having or showing such training

Etymology: ML scientificus, learned, lit., making knowledge (see science & -fic), orig. erroneous transl. of Gr epistēmonikos, pertaining to knowledge

scientific Related Forms
sci′·en·tifi·cally adverb
scientific Synonyms

scientific

modif.

  1. Objectively accurate

    precise, exact, clear; see accurate 2, objective 1.

  2. Concerning science

    experimental, observable, systematic, controlled, deductive, methodically sound; see also logical 1.

scientific Usage Examples

Used with adjective complement

  • comprise: Extracurricular reading comprises scientific, psychological and science fiction articles and documents from books or magazines.

Modifies a noun

  • evidence: There was, he said, no scientific evidence of global warming.
  • discovery: The ' laws of nature ' we have observed in the past are being questioned in light of new scientific discoveries.
  • journal: It ranges from current topics to detailed articles found in scientific journals.
  • knowledge: Their inclusion would help pass on the current state of scientific knowledge about global change to the general public.
  • research: There is a wealth of scientific research - not least the China Health Study.
  • literature: Extract from RSPH website: 'A draft report of the scientific literature on the impacts of water on health ' .

Modifying Another Word

  • purely: Were the debate to continue on a purely scientific level, all would be fine.
  • mainly: Work with highly qualified and enthusiastic people from a broad, mainly scientific background in an ethical environment and decisions are data driven.
  • particularly: Annotation of paper documents is a standard activity in many fields, particularly scientific research.
  • little: The effectiveness of these is probably variable, and there is little scientific evidence of their effectiveness.
  • enough: There is not enough scientific and medical research to support these claims.
  • not: It clearly is not scientific or reasonable to believe in the existence of God.

Preposition: in

  • nature: The biggest problem for these agricultural technologies - indeed, virtually all biotechnologies - isn't technical or scientific in nature.
scientific Quotes

Science is analytical, descriptive, informative. Man does not live by bread alone, but by science he attempts to do so. Hence the deadliness of all that is purely scientific.

—Gill, (Arthur) Eric Rowton

We have a habit in writing articles published in scientific journals to make the work as finished as possible, to cover up all the tracks, to not worryabout the blind alleys or describe how you had the wrong idea first, and so on. So there isn't any place to publish, in a dignified manner, what you actually did in order to do the work.

—Feynman, Richard P(hillips)

Village cricket spread fast through the land.In those days, before it became scientific, cricket was the best game in the world to watchöeach ball a potential crisis.

—Trevelyan, George Macaulay

The Governer was strong upon The Regulation Act: The Doctor said that Death was but A scientific fact: And twice a day the Chaplain called, And left a little tract.

—Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'FlahertieWills

Many persons nowadays seem to think that any conclusion must be very scientific if the arguments in favor of it are derived from twitching of frogs' legsö especially if the frogs are decapitatedöand thatöon the other handöany doctrine chiefly vouched for by the feelings of human beings^with heads on their shouldersömust be benighted and superstitious.

—James,William

If we ought not to fear mortal truth, still less should we dread scientific truth. In the first place it can not conflict with ethics† But if science is feared, it is above all because it can give no happiness† Man, then, can not be happy through science buttoday he canmuch less be happy without it.

—Poincare¤  , (Jules) Henri

Every scientific statement must remain tentative for ever.

—Popper, Sir Karl Raimund

My girls suffered during this month or so, so did my seminars & lectures & my poetry even. To be a critic, ah, how deeper and more scientific.

—Berryman,John originally John Allyn Smith

The man who discovers a new scientific truth has previously had to smash to atoms almost everything he had learnt, and arrives at thenew truthwith handsblood stained from the slaughter of a thousand platitudes.

—Ortega y Gasset,Jose¤

There are two objectionable types of believers: those who believe the incredible and those who believe that 'belief'must be discarded and replaced by 'thescientific method'.

—Born, Max

In order to imbue civilization with sound principles and enliven it with the spirit of the gospel, it is not enough to be illumined with the gift of faith and enkindled with the desire of forwarding a good cause. For this end it is necessary to take an active part in the various organizationsand influencethemfromwithin. And since our present age is one of outstanding scientific and technical progress and excellence, one will not be able to enter these organizations and work effectively from within unless he is scientifically competent, technically capableand skilled in the practice of his own profession.

—PopeJohn XXIII originally Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli

The scientific attitude implies†the postulate of objectivityöthat is to say, the fundamental postulate that there is no plan; that there is no intention in the universe.

—Monod,Jacques

The scientific attitude of mind involves a sweeping away of all other desires in the interest of the desire to know.

—Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl

Scientific discoveryand scientific knowledge have been achieved only by those who have gone in pursuit of them without any practical purpose whatsoever in view.

—Planck, Max Karl Ernst

Scientific discovery consists in the interpretation for our own convenience of a system of existence which has been made with no eye to our convenience at all.

—Wiener, Norbert

The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions.

—Le¤  vi-Strauss, Claude

We are redefining and restating our socialism in terms of thescientific revolution† The Britain that will be forged in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or outdated methods on either side of industry.

—Wilson of Rievaulx, (James) Harold Wilson, Baron

In so far as a scientific statement speaks about reality, it must be falsifiable: and in so far as it is not falsifiable, it does not speak about reality.

—Popper, Sir Karl Raimund

There is at bottom only one genuinely scientific treatment for all diseases, and that is to stimulate the phagocytes.

—Shaw, George Bernard

Freud becomes one of the dramatis personae, in fact, as discoverer of the great and beautiful modern myth of psychoanalysis.By myth, I mean a poetic, dramatic expression of a hidden truth; and in placing this emphasis, I do not intend to put into question the scientific validity of psychoanalysis.

—Thomas, D(onald) M(itchell)

Can a society in which thought and technique are scientific persist for a long period, as, for example, ancient Egypt persisted, or does it necessarily contain within itself forces which must bring either decay or explosion?

—Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl

Browse dictionary entries near scientific

  1. sciential
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  10. sci
  1. scientific method
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  6. scil.
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  10. scincoid