Word.ws English Dictionary

forbidden experiment

forbidden experiment proper noun: an experiment where an infant is isolated from the normal use of language in an attempt to discover the fundamental character of human nature or the origin of language.

Proper noun

the forbidden experiment

  1. An experiment where an infant is isolated from the normal use of language in an attempt to discover the fundamental character of human nature or the origin of language.

Origin of forbidden experiment

So called because ethical guidelines would forbid it. Coined by American scholar Roger Shattuck.

Questions about forbidden experiment

What does forbidden experiment mean?
Forbidden experiment means an experiment where an infant is isolated from the normal use of language in an attempt to discover the fundamental character of human nature or the origin of language.
What part of speech is forbidden experiment?
Forbidden experiment is a proper noun.

Words near forbidden experiment in the dictionary

  1. forbidded
  2. forbidden
  3. Forbidden City
  4. forbidden degree
  5. forbidden degrees
  6. forbidden experiment
  7. forbidden fruit
  8. forbidden fruit is the sweetest
  9. forbidden fruits
  10. forbidden pants
  11. forbidden planet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: forbidden experiment (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “forbidden experiment.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forbidden_experiment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.