scientia

Interlingua

Noun

scientia (plural scientias)

1. science, knowledge

Related terms

• scientific
• scientista

Latin

Etymology

From sciēns, scientem (“knowing, aware; having expertise”) +‎ -ia (“abstract noun suffix”). Attested from Varro onwards (early 1st century BCE).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /skiˈen.ti.a/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ʃiˈen.t͡si.a/,

Noun

scientia f (genitive scientiae); first declension

1. (abstract):
   1. knowledge, awareness, cognizance (the state of knowing a fact or situation)

      Synonyms: cognitiō, sapientia, nōtitia

      Antonym: ignōrantia

   2. learning, learnedness, erudition (the state of having an extensive knowledge)

      Synonyms: ēruditiō, sapientia

   3. expert understanding of a skill, art, science etc. (also as opposed to practice)

      Synonyms: intellēctus, ars

      Antonyms: ūsus, experientia, exercitātiō

2. (concrete):
   1. (philosophy) that which is known (as opposed to a mere belief, translating Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē))

      Antonyms: opīniō, suspiciō, coniectūra

      • 1597, Sir Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae:

        Nam et ipsa scientia potestās est.

        After all, knowledge itself is power.

      1. (Medieval Latin, logic) knowledge (as distinguished according to the direction: from cause to effect or vice versa, corr. to Ancient Greek διότι (dióti) vs. ὅτι (hóti))

         scientia propter quid ― a knowledge derived from cause to effect

         scientia quia ― a knowledge derived from effect to cause

         • William of Ockham, Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard I.89:

           plūs differunt scientia adquīsīta per dēmōnstrātiōnem et scientia adquīsīta per experientiam, quam scientia quia et scientia propter quid

           there's a greater difference between knowledge acquired through logical proof and knowledge acquired through practical experience, than between knowledge from effect and knowledge from cause

   2. the knowledge, lore, scholarship of a particular discipline

      Synonyms: doctrīna, ars

      scientia speculātīva (Medieval Latin) ― theoretical knowledge

   3. the know-how, skill, expertise (applied knowledge)

      Synonyms: perītia, ars

      scientia practica (Medieval Latin) ― practical knowledge

   4. (Medieval Latin) a science (an organized branch of methodically-acquired knowledge with a unified subject-matter)

      Synonym: disciplīna

      Hyponyms: historia nātūrālis, philosophia nātūrālis, physica (all "natural science")

Declension

First-declension noun.

Descendants

Note: all descendants have been influenced by the Latin (and/or French) in meaning, and several also in form.

Participle

scientia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural of sciēns

References

• “scientia” on page 1877 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “scientia”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎, London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC

Further reading

• “scientia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “scientia”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• scientia in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• scientia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to possess literary knowledge: litterarum scientiam (only in sing.) habere
    
  • to acquire knowledge of a subject: scientiam alicuius rei consequi
    
  • (ambiguous) to acquire knowledge of a subject: scientia comprehendere aliquid
    
  • (ambiguous) to enrich a person's knowledge: scientia augere aliquem
    
  • (ambiguous) logic, dialectic: dialectica (-ae or -orum) (pure Latin disserendi ratio et scientia)
    
  • (ambiguous) geographical knowledge: regionum terrestrium aut maritimarum scientia