experience
/ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/
experience means the effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering. It carries an Arena rating of 1576, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, experience ranks #56 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,541 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,979 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #8,526 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
experience is pronounced /ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/.
Why “experience” is a great word
Knowledge, skill, or judgment derived from direct observation of or participation in events or activities. From Middle English experience, from Old French esperience, from Latin experientia ("a trial, proof, experiment; knowledge gained by repeated trials"), from experiens, present participle of experiri ("to try, put to the test"), from ex- ("out") + periri ("to go through, risk"). Unlike "inexperience," which denotes an absence, or "experiment," a deliberate, controlled test, experience is the accrued, often unbidden residue of having lived. It is the callus on a potter’s thumb from years at the wheel, the subtle shift in a nurse’s posture when she recognizes the scent of sepsis, the quiet certainty in a parent’s hands soothing a child not by rule but by memory—the way understanding, once earned, settles into the skin like warmth from a hearth.
Etymology
From Middle English experience, from Old French, from Latin experientia (“a trial, proof, experiment, experimental knowledge, experience”), from experiens, present participle of experiri (“to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo”), from ex (“out”) + peritus (“experienced, expert”), past participle of *periri (“to go through”); see expert and peril. Displaced native Old English āfandung (“experience”) and āfandian (“to experience”).
noun
- The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering.e.g.“It was an experience he would not soon forget.”
- An activity one has performed.
- A collection of events and/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.e.g.“Virtually all employers now require jobseekers to have work experience even for entry-level roles. Many believe this will hurt companies in the long run.”
- The knowledge thus gathered.
- A business offering in which a major focus is the way that the customer interacts with the business throughout the transaction, as opposed to only its outcome (the product or service).e.g.“CDNOW's custom music selection and Levi Strauss & Co.'s custom-fit jean service are also good examples of giving customers more than just the product, but an experience as well.” — 1999, Journal of Integrated Communications:
- Synonym of experience pointse.g.“As your troops conquer the enemy, they'll earn experience and gain levels. Each time they level up, their stats will increase.” — 2003 December 7, “Fire Emblem”, in Nintendo Power, volume 174, Show Some Class, page 33:
- Trial; a test or experiment.e.g.“She caused him to make experience / Vpon wyld beasts, which she in woods did find, / With wrongfull powre oppressing others of their kind” — 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 7:
verb
- To observe certain events; undergo a certain feeling or process; or perform certain actions that may alter one or contribute to one's knowledge, opinions, or skills.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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