Medical Dictionary
empirical
adj em·pir·i·cal \-i-kəl\
Medical Definition of EMPIRICAL
1
archaic a : following or used in the practice of the empirics—compare rational 2 b : being or befitting a quack or charlatan
2
: originating in or based on observation or experiment <much medical lore had had an empirical origin…centuries of trial-and-error gropings after remedies—R. H. Shryock>
3
: capable of being confirmed, verified, or disproved by observation or experiment <empirical statements or laws>
—em·pir·i·cal·ly \-i-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
Variants of EMPIRICAL
em·pir·i·cal also em·pir·ic \-ik\
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