Science Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Etymology == The word ''science'' has been used in [[Middle English]] since the 14th century in the sense of "the state of knowing". The word was borrowed from the [[Anglo-Norman language]] as the suffix {{lang|xno|-cience}}, which was borrowed from the [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|[[wikt:scientia|scientia]]}}, meaning "knowledge, awareness, understanding". It is a [[Morphological derivation|noun derivative]] of the Latin {{lang|la|[[wikt:sciens|sciens]]}} meaning "knowing", and undisputedly derived from the Latin {{lang|la|[[wikt:scio|sciō]]}}, the [[present participle]] ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:scire|scīre]]}}'', meaning "to know".<ref name="webster">{{cite dictionary |title=science |encyclopedia=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]], Inc |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science |access-date=October 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901035713/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/science |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> There are many hypotheses for ''science''<nowiki/>'s ultimate word origin. According to [[Michiel de Vaan]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]] linguist and [[Indo-European studies|Indo-Europeanist]], {{lang|la|sciō}} may have its origin in the [[Proto-Italic language]] as {{lang|itc-x-proto|*skije-}} or {{lang|itc-x-proto|*skijo-}} meaning "to know", which may originate from [[Proto-Indo-European language]] as ''{{PIE|*skh<sub>1</sub>-ie}}, {{PIE|*skh<sub>1</sub>-io}}'', meaning "to incise". The ''[[Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben]]'' proposed {{lang|la|sciō}} is a [[back-formation]] of {{lang|la|[[wikt:nescire|nescīre]]}}, meaning "to not know, be unfamiliar with", which may derive from Proto-Indo-European ''{{PIE|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sek-|*sekH-]]}}'' in Latin {{lang|la|[[wikt:secare|secāre]]}}, or ''{{PIE|*skh<sub>2</sub>-}}'', from ''{{PIE|*sḱʰeh2(i)-}}'' meaning "to cut".<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=sciō |encyclopedia=Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages |url=https://archive.org/details/m-de-vaan-2008-etymological-dictionary-of-latin-and-the-other-italic-languages/page/544/ |last=Vaan |first=Michiel de |author-link=Michiel de Vaan |series=[[Indo-European Etymological Dictionary]] |pages=545 |isbn=978-90-04-16797-1}}</ref><!-- I honestly do nott understand some of the last sentences in the source --> In the past, science was a synonym for "knowledge" or "study", in keeping with its [[Latin]] origin. A person who conducted scientific research was called a "natural philosopher" or "man of science".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cahan |first=David |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51330464 |title=From natural philosophy to the sciences : writing the history of nineteenth-century science |date=2003 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-08927-4 |location=Chicago |oclc=51330464 |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531071721/https://www.worldcat.org/title/from-natural-philosophy-to-the-sciences-writing-the-history-of-nineteenth-century-science/oclc/51330464 |url-status=live|pages=3–15}}</ref> In 1834, [[William Whewell]] introduced the term ''scientist'' in a review of [[Mary Somerville]]'s book ''[[On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences]]'',<ref name="Whewell scientist">{{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Sydney |year=1962 |title=Scientist: The story of a word |journal=[[Annals of Science]] |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=65–85 |doi=10.1080/00033796200202722 |doi-access=free}}</ref> crediting it to "some ingenious gentleman" (possibly himself).<ref>{{cite OED|scientist}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page