empirical

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>empirical</strong> &#149; \im-PEER-uh-kul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p>When we describe something, such as data, as <em>empirical</em>, we mean that it originated in, or was based on, observation or experience. <em>Empirical</em> can also be used to describe something that is capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment, as in “empirical laws.” </p> <p>// The team of conservation biologists gathered reams of <em>empirical</em> data—from species inventories to soil analyses—to help them get a better understanding of the forest’s ecology. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empirical">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Scholars have long tried to understand why Neolithic farmer populations go through boom-bust cycles, including ‘collapses’ when whole regions are abandoned. According to one common explanation, climate fluctuations are the main driver, but <em>empirical</em> tests do not fully support this claim. In a new paper, published in the latest issue of <em>Scientific Reports</em>, Turchin and his team seem to have come up with a new piece of information. ‘Our study shows that periodic outbreaks of warfare—and not climate fluctuations—can account for the observed boom-bust patterns in the data,’ argues Turchin...” — The Complexity Science Hub, <em>Phys.org</em>, 19 June 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>When <em>empirical</em> 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 sounds all fine and good to a modern reader, but emp