Heuristic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hjuˈɹɪstɪk/, /hjʊˈɹɪstɪk/
• Hyphenation: heu + ris + tic

Origin

Irregular formation from Ancient Greek εὑρίσκω (euriskō, "I find, discover").

Full definition of heuristic

Adjective

1. Relating to general strategies or methods for solving problems.
2. (computing, of a method or algorithm) that solves a problem more quickly but is not certain to arrive at an optimal solution.
• 2002, Te Chiang Hu, Man-tak Shing, Combinatorial Algorithms, If a heuristic algorithm works for most of the input data or its maximum percentage error is tolerable, we may prefer the heuristic algorithm to an optimum algorithm that requires a long time.

Derived terms

• heuristically
• heuristical

Noun

1. A heuristic method.
2. The art of applying heuristic methods.