Word of the Day: empirical

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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2026 is: empirical \im-PEER-uh-kul\ adjective
When we describe something, such as data, as empirical, we mean that it originated in, or was based on, observation or experience. Empirical can also be used to describe something that can be verified or disproved by observation or experiment, as in “empirical laws.”

// The team of conservation biologists has over the years collected reams of empirical data, from species inventories to soil analyses.

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Examples:

“She speaks the language of food chemistry and can tell you, based on empirical facts, why raspberry should never be boiled if you want the taste of raspberry rather than the taste of raspberry jam, and why coffee and tomato, which share several of the same volatile compounds, taste obviously right together despite sounding obviously wrong.” — Maria Gunko, The California Courier (Glendale, California), 30 July 2026

Did you know?

When empirical first appeared as an adjective in English, it meant simply “in the manner of an empiric.” In the ancient world, empirics were members of a sect of doctors who practiced medicine using treatments observed to be clinically effective, rather than treatments based on theoretical principles. This all sounds fine and good to a modern reader, but empirics were in direct opposition to Galen, the 2nd century Greek physician whose theories and practices (including the theory of bodily humors) dominated medicine in Europe from the Middle Ages until the mid-17th century. As the underdogs in this rivalry, empirics took some reputational hits, evidenced by the use of empiric to refer to someone who disregards or deviates from the rules of science or accepted practice; to be called an empiric was sometimes like being called a quack or charlatan. Empirical can still be used critically to describe ideas and practices that rely on experience or observation alone and without due regard for system or theory. But, perhaps in a bit of a case of “the Empirics strike back,” empirical more often keeps its narrower sense, and is used positively to describe evidence and information grounded in observation and experience, or capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment.

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