heuristic

heuristic
—heuristically, adv.
/hyoo ris"tik/ or, often, /yoo-/, adj.
1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4. Computers, Math. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
n.
5. a heuristic method of argument.
6. the study of heuristic procedure.
[1815-25; < NL heuristicus, equiv. to Gk heur(ískein) to find out, discover + L -isticus -ISTIC]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • heuristic — I. adjective Etymology: German heuristisch, from New Latin heuristicus, from Greek heuriskein to discover; akin to Old Irish fo fúair he found Date: 1821 involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem solving by experimental… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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