English
science
Science comes from Old French science, from Latin scientia ‘knowledge’, from sciēns ‘knowing’, and ultimately from Latin sciō ‘to know’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciō1as scire, present participle stem‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciēns1‘knowing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscientia1‘knowledge’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400science1‘knowledge’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500science1‘a science’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590science1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English science
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto I: “For by his mightie Science he had seene /…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciōWiktionary, English scienceas scire, present participle stem‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsciēnsWiktionary, English science‘knowing’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscientiaWiktionary, English science‘knowledge’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400scienceWiktionary, English science‘knowledge’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scienceWiktionary, English science‘a science’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590scienceWiktionary, English science. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto I: “For by his mightie Science he had seene /…”
Linked words
pairs
- science and nice both from Latin sciō ‘to know’
through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to distinguish, dissect’
ship, equipment, shift, shed, skip, kyle, ski, shin, squire, sheath, skeet, skiff, chine, scuttle, skein, shud, scullery, prescient, 43 more
through Proto-Italic *skijō
through Latin sciō ‘to know’
Today it means
noun A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “science”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin sciō / science