Etymology

empirical

em·pi·ri·cal
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Today it means: Pertaining to or based on experience, as opposed to theory. Full definition →

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← English empiric ← Latin empīricu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Ancient Greekἐν (en)
  3. Ancient Greekἐν- (en-)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*périh₂
  6. Proto-Hellenic*péřřa
  7. Ancient Greekπεῖρα (peîra)
  8. Ancient Greekἔμπειρος (émpeiros)
  9. Ancient Greekἐμπειρία (empeiría)
  10. Ancient Greekἐμπειρῐκός (empeirĭkós)
  11. Latinempīricu
  12. Englishempiric
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  15. English todayempirical

From empiric + -al.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.