▪ I. experience, n.
(ɛkˈspɪərɪəns)
Also 4–6 experiens, -ians, -yens, 5–6 experyence.
[a. Fr. expérience, ad. L. experientia, f. experient-em, pr. pple. of experīrī to try, put to the test.]
† 1. a. The action of putting to the test; trial. to make experience of: to make trial of. Obs.
| 1388 Wyclif Gen. xlii. 15 Now y schal take experience [1382 experyment] of ȝou. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 14 At Avynon thexperience Therof haþ ȝoue an euidence. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. i. 7 Of all the which..She [Astræa] caused him [Artegall] to make experience Vpon wild beasts. 1631 Shirley School of Complement i. i, Make Experience of my loyalty, by some service. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. Ep. Ded. A ij b, The Art of Shorthand..much wondered at by Travailers, that have seen the experience of it in England. |
† b. A tentative procedure; an operation performed in order to ascertain or illustrate some truth; an experiment. Obs.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame ii. 280, I prove it..Be experience, for if that thou Threw in a water now, a stone [etc.]. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 47 Nowe have I made inoculacion Of pere and appultree: the experience Hath preved wel. 1576 Baker Jewell of Health 112 a, The Aucthour..hath both seene, and done many experiences worthy memorie. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 60 They will tell you a story of I know not what experiences they have made, when alas they never knew that an Experiment must hold in all its parts. 1678 R. R[ussell] Geber ii. i. iv. i. 86 All which..we shall..declare, with their Causes and with easie Experiences. 1763 E. Carter in Pennington Mem. (1816) I. 301, I was..assured, by people who have made the experience, that [etc.]. |
† 2. Proof by actual trial; practical demonstration. to put in experience: to fulfil in practice. Obs.; passing into 3.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §1, I..found the point of my rewle..a lite with-in the degree & than haddy of this conclusioun the ful experience. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 138 Thus hath this king experience, How fooles done the reverence To gold. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 5, I had hereof good experyence. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 469 Ye maye well perceyve the experyence of it every day. 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. cxix. 96 Augustyne..warnyd them..that..they shuld..receyue warre and wreche; the whiche was after put in experience by Ethelfridus Kynge of Northumberland. 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iv. iv, And now to make experience of my love, Fair sister Anna, lead my lover forth. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World II. v. i. §1. 261 The experience that Pyrrhus hath giuen, of the Roman power, in his dayes. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iii. (1841) I. 58, I have a full experience of that, and thought my happiness always complete in it. |
3. The actual observation of facts or events, considered as a source of knowledge.
| 1377 Langland P. Pl. B. xviii. 151 Thorw experience..I hope þei shal be saued. 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 13 Therefore the Mariners by experience trying, that one flame..signified tempest at hand, supposed the same flame to be the goddess Helena. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 121 b, To poure into his mouth wine and oyle..we finde by experience, is verye good. 1651 Wittie tr. Primrose's Pop. Err. i. xiv. 51 Experience teacheth that Agarick purges fleame. 1736 Butler Anal. i. ii. 35 It is not so much a Deduction of Reason, as a Matter of Experience. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 371 Just experience tells..That those that think must govern those that toil. 1785 Reid Int. Powers 627 Experience informs us only of what has been, but never of what must be. 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. ii. i. (1851) 76 The..only ultimate source of our knowledge of nature and its laws, experience; by which we mean..the accumulated experience of all mankind in all ages, registered in books or recorded by tradition. 1851 Helps Friends in C. I. 19 By making men as gods, enabling them to understand without experience. 1862 [Sir J. F. Stephen] Ess. by a Barrister 329 Daily experience informs us of the consequences. |
4. a. The fact of being consciously the subject of a state or condition, or of being consciously affected by an event. Also an instance of this; a state or condition viewed subjectively; an event by which one is affected.
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxx. 27 Laban seide to him..thurȝ experyens Y haue lernyd for God hath blissid to me for thee. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 1 Experiens..were ynough for me To speke of wo that is in mariage. 14.. Purific. Marie in Tundale's Vis. 129 To have experiens Only of chyldyng. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgrave 1049 Please God that ye understande it by experiens. 1615 J. Stephens Satir. Ess. (ed. 2) 172 A complete man..knowes what experience can teach, but is not taught by experience. 1693 C. Mather Wond. Invis. World, Churches, whose Communicants have been seriously examined about their Experience of Regeneration. 1846 Hawthorne Mosses (1883) 47 A man of science who..had made experience of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 254 Both..had learned by experience how soon James forgot obligations. 1874 Miss Mulock My Mother & I 8 Many another girl has gone thro' a similar experience. 1878 Hooker & Ball Marocco 269 Another unlooked-for experience was in store for us. |
b. In religious use: A state of mind or feeling forming part of the inner religious life; the mental history (of a person) with regard to religious emotion. Also attrib., esp. in experience-meeting, a meeting (e.g. a Methodist class meeting or love-feast) held for the recital of religious experiences.
| 1674 Owen Holy Spirit (1693) 49 Testified unto by the Experience of them that truely believe. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 47 marg., A Repetition of Christiana's Experience. a 1758 J. Edwards Wks. III. 32 Those experiences which are agreeable to the word of God are right. 1841–4 Emerson Ess. Ser. i. 256 The rapture of the Moravian and Quietist..the experiences of the Methodists, are varying forms [etc.]. 1854 H. Miller Footpr. Creat. xiii. (1874) 235 Ought the Christian controversialist to avail himself, in this question, of the experience argument? 1857 Goodrich Recoll. I. 214 [At these meetings] there was praying, and exhorting, and telling experiences, and singing..sentimental religious hymns. |
5. In senses 3, 4 often personified; esp. in various proverbial phrases.
| c 1450 Nun 150 in E.E.P. 142 ‘What ys yowr name, dame empryse?’ Sche seyde ‘my name ys experience.’ 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 249 Experience..is the schoolmaistresse of fooles. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Sig. *2 b, Experience is the mother of Science. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 34 Experience, oh thou disproou'st Report. 1650 Bp. Hall Balm Gil. 301 If experience be the mistresse of fools, I am sure it is the mother of wisdome. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety 104 Experience is the daughter of Time. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. i, Experience is the child of Thought. |
6. What has been experienced; the events that have taken place within the knowledge of an individual, a community, mankind at large, either during a particular period or generally.
| 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. 31, I can finde nothing in mine experience to contradict your speech. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. I. vi. 423 Her animosity against the queen of Scots was greatly augmented by recent experience. 1860 Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 141/2 Profound study of Indian experience. |
7. a. Knowledge resulting from actual observation or from what one has undergone.
| 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 7 It hardelye agreeth with the principles of Philosophie & common experience. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iv. i. 26 Jaq. Yes, I haue gain'd my experience. Ros. And your experience makes you sad. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. 39, I have no further experience of you then the bare report of my Tenant. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Ep. Ded., Having no old experience of the Duration of their Relics. 1791 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 20 Most men have the generosity to pay for their own experience. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. ii. 22, I had had but little experience of alpine phenomena. |
† b. A piece of experimental knowledge; a fact, maxim, rule, or device drawn from or approved by experience; concr. something expertly fashioned. Obs.
| 1570 Dee Math. Pref. 24 This Arte [Astrology] is furnished with many other great Artes and experiences. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 170 Some have an other experience for this purpose, and that is Potshardes beaten small..and given unto them [Doves]. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 27 How hast thou purchased this experience? 1621 Bolton Stat. Irel. 330 Sir Percy Sidney..hath..found amongst other experiences the great abuse of the clergie there. 1657 T. Barker Art of Angling (1659) 51, I have found an experience [i.e. salmon roe as bait] of late which you may angle with, and take great store of this kind of fish. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 14, I will add one old approved Experience for the Mariners use..that is, to cut Hair, the Moon in [Taurus, etc.]. 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 128 Here I saw the schools..full of pretty curiosities and experiences, Mechanical, Mathematical, and Hydraulical. |
8. The state of having been occupied in any department of study or practice, in affairs generally, or in the intercourse of life; the extent to which, or the length of time during which, one has been so occupied; the aptitudes, skill, judgement, etc. thereby acquired.
| 1483 Caxton Cato A viij, He ought to haue thexperience..to knowe what thynge right is. 1494 Fabyan Chron. 3 To theym that..haue in Cronycles full experyence. 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. 292 The duke of suthfolke..was a man of grete experyence. 1511–2 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 11 To the perfecte knowlege wherof bee requisite bothe grete lernyng and ripe experience. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. ii. xl. in Holinshed, By reason of their continuall wars they are very valient, bold, and of great experiences. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 69 His yeares but yong, but his experience old. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1702) I. 38 Observations, and Reflections; out of which, that, which is commonly call'd Experience, is constituted. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 98 ¶2 You are stricken in Years, and have had great Experience in the World. 1735–8 Bolingbroke On Parties 2 There is need of..those Habits in Business called Experience. 1770 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 240 His experience in the world is but moderate. 1828 Whately Rhet. ii. §7 The authority derived from Experience. |
| transf. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan I. 124 Making a difficult meal from a fowl of much experience. |
9. attrib., as experience philosophy, experiential philosophy; experience school, the school of empiricism; experience table, a table of mortality computed from the experience of one or more life-assurance companies.
| 1859 J. S. Mill Lett. (1910) I. 225 The experience philosophy and the association psychology are getting up again. 1909 W. James Pluralistic Universe 390 This is effectuation in the only shape in which, by a pure experience-philosophy, the whereabouts of it anywhere can be discussed. |
| 1882 A. Bain J. S. Mill iii. 69 Mr. Ward has continued to uphold his peculiar tenets against the Experience-school. 1936 Mind XLV. 242 He holds (as some members of the ‘experience-school’ do) that feeling..is also a cognitive function. |
| 1879 W. S. Champness Insur. Dict. (1883) 106 The Experience Table is based on that of seventeen British Life Offices. |
▪ II. experience, v.
(ɛkˈspɪərɪəns)
[f. prec. n.]
I. † 1. a. trans. To make trial or experiment of; to put to the test; to test, try. Obs.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe iii. vi. (1541) 62 b, In extreme necessitie it were better experience some remedy, than to do nothynge. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 195 Alexander..experienc'd him in some intricate business, and found him a person of worth. 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. iv. §14 (1689) 46 Having never experienced them for these Fish, I dare not be positive. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772, 368 Persuade their governess to experience their zeal. 1780 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 200 That the expences of the Sessions dinners..be experienced for a few Sessions. |
† b. To ascertain or prove by experiment or observation; chiefly with sentence as obj. Also rarely, To prove or reveal (a thing) to (a person) by experience. Obs.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) G iij b, I my selfe have often experienced, the best remedy is [etc.]. 1656–7 Burton's Diary (1828) I. 333 This Quartermaster..had one hundred good horses in town..for what purpose time will experience. 1690 Lady Russell Lett. cxvi. II. 80 This trial has..experienced to me my sad weakness. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 82 It has been experienced, that if it be hung about the neck, it will cure the epilepsy. |
2. a. To have experience of; to meet with; to feel, suffer, undergo.
| 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 349 [He] declared unto them, as one that had experienced the same, the rewarde of that good deede. 1645 J. Saltmarsh Open. Prynne's New Bk. 3 We experience in part some remainders of Prelacy. 1646 ― Smoke in Temple 56 [The author defends his use of the verb (see prec. quot.) on the ground that useful neologisms are permissible]. 1736 Butler Anal. i. ii. Wks. 1874 I. 45 The whole passage is..applicable to what we experience in the present world. 1773 J. Allen Serm. St. Mary's Oxf. 25 They who experience his loving kindness. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr Hist. Servia 334 He was himself soon to experience a similar fate. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 129, I experienced no trace of mountain sickness. |
b. To learn (a fact) by experience; to find. With direct obj. and compl. inf., or with sentence as obj. Now rare.
| 1580 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1613) 207 Pamela..had now experienced how much care doth sollicite a lovers heart. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. 65 The divine government, which we experience ourselves under the present state. 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 63 That River is experienced not rapid enough to occasion any Damage to the Piers of those Bridges. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 621, I then experienced what I knew before hand, that there are [etc.]. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 88, I have experienced that a landscape and the sky unfold the deepest beauty. |
c. transf. Of a thing: To meet with, undergo.
| 1786 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 24 The treaties..have experienced greater delay than was expected. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 217 Holland often experiences a degree of cold greater than countries placed under higher latitudes. 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 198 The resistance experienced by the base of the cone. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xii. 420 His bodily strength was..visibly experiencing decay. |
d. to experience religion: to be converted. U.S.
| 1837 Knickerbocker IX. 356, I have ‘experienced religion’, as well as thousands of others, and in the same way. a 1852 F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers (1883) xx. 80 He was a wonderful pious pedlar..had jest experienced religion. 1868 O. W. Holmes Guard. Angel xii, Some went so far as to doubt if she had ever experienced religion, for all she was a professor. 1891 K. D. Wiggin Timothy's Quest. 136 You'd think nobody ever experienced religion afore, he's so set up 'bout it. |
† II. 3. a. To give experience to; to make experienced; to train (soldiers). Also, in pass.: To be informed or taught by experience (Const. of, or with subord. clause). Obs.
| c 1534 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 64 Well experienced that mistruste or confidence depended on the first casualltie of the battaile. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 249 The Foot-men..being experienced to run suddenly with the Horse men, leaped into the battail. 1612 W. Parkes Curtaine-Dr. (1876) 33 Whom no tryall can experience, whom no de[s]truction can forewarne. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 509 Able to heare of Cupid, though not..experienced by wound of his force. 1627 Sir R. Cotton Short View in Phenix I. 70 The King, by this experienced of the intents of his rebellious lords, and finding, etc. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 567 Experience thy Soule in the comforts of Christs dying. |
† b. To gain experience in, practise the use of (arms). Obs. rare.
| 1727 W. Harte Statius' 6th Thebaid 24 The youthful sailors..Their arms experience, and for sea prepare. |