science

Syllables: sci·ence/ˈsaɪ.əns/

science noun: a particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill. Also the obsolete spelling of scion.

Noun

science (countable and uncountable, plural sciences)

(countable) A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.
- Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is...2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023
- Of course in my opinion Social Studies is more of a science than an art.
Specifically the natural sciences.
- My favorite subjects at school are science, mathematics, and history.
(archaic, uncountable) Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.
- For by his mightie Science he had seene / The secret vertue of that weapon keene […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- If we conceive God's sight or science, before the creation, to be extended to all and every part of the world, seeing everything as it is, […] his science or sight from all eternity lays no necessity on anything to come to pass.1654, H[enry] Hammond, Of Fundamentals in a Notion Referring to Practise, London: […] J[ames] Flesher for Richard Royston, […], →OCLC
The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.
- O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding vain and profane babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 6:20-21
(uncountable) The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.
- Meronyms: physical science, life science, natural science, social science
- ‘I always ask leave, in the interests of science, to measure the crania of those going out there,’ he said.1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 201
(uncountable) Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.
- While much good science has come from the Hubble telescope (including the most reliable measure to date for the expansion rate of the universe), you would never know from media accounts that the foundation of our cosmic knowledge continues to flow primarily from the analysis of spectra and not from...2001 September, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Over the rainbow”, in Natural History, volume 110, number 7, page 30
(collective, uncountable) The scientific community.
- Science knows it doesn't know everything; otherwise, it'd stop.2008, HMV Hammersmith Apollo, in Dara Ó Briain Talks Funny – Live in London, spoken by stand-up comedian (Dara Ó Briain), United Kingdom, published 2008
- With wildfires raging across the West, climate change took center stage in the race for the White House on Monday as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called President Trump a “climate arsonist” while the president said that “I don’t think science knows” what is actually happening.2020 September 14, “As Trump Again Rejects Science, Biden Calls Him a ‘Climate Arsonist’”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2021
(euphemistic, with-definite-article) Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”).
- From a conviction, that the science is universally understood, the strong are taught humility, and the weak confidence. Many have laughed at the idea, that Boxing is of national service, but they have laughed at the expence^([sic]) of truth.1816, The art and practice of English boxing, page v
- […] for not a blow or guard in boxing will repay you more than the cross-counter, which may well be called the sheet-anchor of the science.1888, William Edwards, Art of Boxing and Science of Self-Defense
Synonyms:

sweet science

Verb

science (third-person singular simple present sciences, present participle sciencing, simple past and past participle scienced)

(dated, transitive) To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.
- I mock'd at all religious Fear, Deep-scienced in the mazy Lore Of mad Philosophy1742, Philip Francis, Odes, Epodes, and Carmen Seculare of Horace in Latin and English
(colloquial, humorous, transitive) To use science to solve a problem.

Also used as

science is also the obsolete spelling of scion.

science meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

science in Hindi

particular discipline or branch of learning: शास्त्र śāstra, साइंस sāins
knowledge gained through study or practice: शास्त्र śāstra
fact of knowing something: शास्त्र śāstra
collective discipline of learning acquired through the scientific method: विज्ञान vijñān, शास्त्र śāstra, बिज्ञान bijñān, साइंस sāins

science in Tamil

particular discipline or branch of learning: அறிவியல் aṟiviyal, விஞ்ஞானம் viññāṉam
collective discipline of learning acquired through the scientific method: அறிவியல் aṟiviyal, விஞ்ஞானம் viññāṉam

science in Marathi

particular discipline or branch of learning: शास्त्र śāstra
collective discipline of learning acquired through the scientific method: विज्ञान vijñān

science in Urdu

fact of knowing something: عِلْم 'ilm, عِرْفان 'irfān
collective discipline of learning acquired through the scientific method: سائِنْس sāins, عِلْم 'ilm, دانش dāniś

More languagesFewer languages

science in Bengali: বিজ্ঞান biggên
science in Telugu: శాస్త్రము śāstramu, విజ్ఞానము vijñānamu
science in Malayalam: ശാസ്ത്രം śāstraṁ
science in Kannada: ಅರಿಮೆ arime
science in Punjabi: ਵਿਗਿਆਨ vigiāna
science in Gujarati: વિજ્ઞાન vijñān
science in Odia: ବିଜ୍ଞାନ bijñāna
science in Sanskrit: विज्ञान vijñāna
science in Sinhala: විද්යාව widyāwa
science in Assamese: বিজ্ঞান biggan
science in Nepali: विज्ञान बिज्ञान vigyān
science in Pashto: علم elm, elǝm, ساينس sāyns
science in Tagalog: agham, siyensiya
science in Arabic: عِلْم ʕilm, مَعْرِفَة maʕrifa
science in Malay: bidang sains, sains, ilmu, widya
science in Indonesian: ilmu, ilmu pengetahuan
science in Persian: دَانِش dāniš, مَعْرِفَت ma'rifat, عِرْفَان irfān, دانِش dâneš
science in Thai: วิทยาศาสตร์ wít-tá-yaa-sàat
science in Vietnamese: ngành khoa học, môn khoa học, tri thức, kiến thức
science in Myanmar: သိပ္ပံ sippam, ဗေဒ beda.
Dhivehi: ސައިންސު sain̊su, ސައިންސް sain̊s

Examples of science in a sentence

Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art.2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023:
Shakespeare's deep and accurate science in mental philosophy1819, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Hamlet:
"That this use should be destructive is no doubt very deplorable, but Science knows no distinctions of the sort, but follows knowledge wherever it may lead."1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disintegration Machine:
I have found no better expression than "religious" for confidence in the rational nature of reality […] Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.1951 January 1, Albert Einstein, letter to Maurice Solovine, as published in Letters to Solovine (1993)

All 40 example sentences with science

Synonyms of science

Forms of science

Noun
plural	sciences
Verb
third-person singular present	sciences
present participle	sciencing
past participle	scienced
past	scienced

Plural of science: sciences

Origin of science

From Middle English science, scyence, borrowed from Old French science, escience, from Latin scientia (“knowledge”), from sciēns, the present participle stem of scire (“to know”).

See scion.

Words formed from science

Phrases with science

90 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with science

Questions about science

What does science mean?: Science means a particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.
What is science in Hindi?: Science in Hindi is शास्त्र (śāstra), साइंस (sāins), विज्ञान (vijñān). See Science meaning in Hindi.
How do you use science in a sentence?: Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art.
What part of speech is science?: Science can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce science?: Science is pronounced /ˈsaɪ.əns/.
What is the plural of science?: The plural of science is sciences.

Words near science in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: science (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-science.ogg, en-ca-science.ogg.

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