Scientist

Origin

Coined by William Whewell in 1833 as a more precise substitute for the term natural philosopher. Modeled after artist, from Latin stem scientia ("knowledge") with the suffix -ist.

Full definition of scientist

Noun

1. One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research, or make use of the results of the research of others.
• 2012-01, Stephen Ledoux, Behaviorism at 100, Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training.
• 2013-06-21, Karen McVeigh, US rules human genes can't be patented, The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

Derived terms

• computer scientist
• natural scientist
• pseudoscientist noun

Related terms

• science noun
• scientific adjective