Meanings
- not comparablehuman sciencesOf or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired.First known use early 19th c.
Second, note the role of the respondent's epistemic state. It is a factor in determining the correct replies, but only when the propositum is irrelevant.
2008 July 1, Paul Vincent Spade, “Medieval Theories of Obligationes”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, archived from the original on 23 Oct 20121 more example
This chapter describes the contours of the epistemic crisis in media and politics that threatens the integrity of democratic processes, erodes trust in public institutions, and exacerbates social divisions.
2018, Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts, “Epistemic Crisis”, in Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISBNAntonyms: nonepistemic
- broadlynot comparablehuman sciencesOf or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language.
1 more example
Professor [Richard] Boyd provides a powerful argument for the conclusion that in the sciences metaphor is often theory-constitutive, by means of an important modification of the causal theory of reference in terms of ‘epistemic access’; Metaphors provide epistemic access to the world via the articulation of new ideas at a stage when literal language cannot cope, enabling us with increasing accuracy to accommodate language to the world.
1981 April, Martin Warner, “Metaphor and Thought. Edited by Andrew Ortony. London, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 1979. x+501 pp. £20.00 (paperbound £7.50). [book review]”, in C. C. Smith, editor, The Modern Language Review, volume 76, number 2, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Modern Humanities Research Association, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 428Antonyms: deontic
- not comparablehuman sciencesOf or relating to epistemology (“the branch of philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge”); epistemologic or epistemological.
[Robert] Audi considers whether [Roderick Milton] Chisholm might be able to incorporate into his epistemic system an internalist evidential grounding requirement addressing this question.
2000 July, Timm Triplett, “The Philosophy of Roderick M. Chisholm. Edited by Lewis Edwin Hahn. The Library of Living Philosophers, vol. 25. Chicago and La Salle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, 1997. Pp. xviii, 738. [book review]”, in Richard Boyd et al., editors, The Philosophical Review, volume 109, number 3, Ithaca, N.Y.: Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 452
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired.
adjectiveOf or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof or relating to epistemology
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-“to stand (up)”
- Ancient Greekἐπιστήμη“knowledge; science”
- Englishepistemic
PIE word *h₁epi From Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “knowledge; science”) + English -ic (suffix meaning of or pertaining to forming adjectives from nouns) (compare modern Greek επιστημικός (epistimikós, “relating to science, scientific”)). Ἐπιστήμη (Epistḗmē) is derived from ἐπῐ́στᾰμαι (epĭ́stămai, “to have knowledge of, know”) (from ἐπῐ- (epĭ-, prefix meaning ‘all over; on, on top of’) + ῐ̔́στημῐ (hĭ́stēmĭ, “to stand; to weigh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”))) + -η (-ē, suffix forming action nouns).
More words from Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish epistemisk, erkendelsesmæssig
- epistemiskof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- erkendelsesmæssigof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Dutch epistemisch
- epistemischof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Finnish episteeminen, episteeminen
- episteeminenof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- episteeminenof or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language
French épistémique
- épistémiqueof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
German epistemisch
- epistemischof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Icelandic þekkingar-
- þekkingar-of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Italian epistemico, epistematico
- epistemicoof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- epistematicoof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Japanese 認識的
- 認識的of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Polish epistemiczny, poznawczy
- epistemicznyof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- poznawczyof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- epistemicznyof or relating to how cognition or knowledge is expressed in language
Portuguese epistêmico
- epistêmicoof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Russian эпистеми́ческий, эпистемологи́ческий
- эпистеми́ческий (epistemíčeskij)of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
- эпистемологи́ческий (epistemologíčeskij)of or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Spanish epistémico
- epistémicoof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Swedish epistemisk
- epistemiskof or relating to cognition or knowledge, its scope, or how it is acquired
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with epistemic
Cite this entry
epistemic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic
“epistemic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “epistemic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/epistemic.
Source: epistemic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.