experience

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪkˈspɪɹ.i.əns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ex‧pe‧ri‧ence

Noun

experience (countable and uncountable, plural experiences)

1. 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 was an experience he would not soon forget.

   • March 20, 1684-5, John Sharp, Sermon preached at Whitehall

     Those that undertook the religion of our Savior upon his preaching, had no experience of it.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     “I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. […] ”

2. (countable) An activity one has performed.
3. (countable) A collection of events and/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.
   • 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:

     they knew soone by experience how slenderly guarded against danger, the majestie of Rulers is

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 1:

     Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer in one word, from experience.

   • 2024, NTSB, Intersection Crash Between Passenger Car and Combination Vehicle, Tishomingo, Oklahoma, March 22, 2022:

     We determined that the car driver’s transportation of multiple teen passengers, limited driving experience, and likely impairment from effects of cannabis at the time of the crash adversely affected her judgment of the danger of entering the intersection in front of the approaching combination vehicle.

4. (uncountable) The knowledge thus gathered.
   • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:

     In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

5. (obsolete, uncountable) Trial; a test or experiment.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 7:

     She caused him to make experience / Vpon wyld beasts, which she in woods did find, / With wrongfull powre oppressing others of their kind

Verb

experience (third-person singular simple present experiences, present participle experiencing, simple past and past participle experienced)

1. (transitive) 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.

References

• “experience”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• experience in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• "experience" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 126.
• “experience”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “experience”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Further reading

• experience on Wikipedia.Wikipedia