Experience
Have you ever learned something from experience? The word experience comes from ancient words meaning ‘to try something’ and ‘to take a risk’.
In particular, the origins of the word experience are found in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) per (to try, to risk, to press forward). From this root comes Latin peritus (experienced, tested). Latin ex- (out of) + peritus forms experiri (to try, to test). From experiri comes Latin experientum (experienced), experientia (a trial, proof, experiment, knowledge gained by repeated trials), and Old French esperience (experiment, proof, experience). The word experience came to English in the late 14th century and meant ‘observation as the source of knowledge, actual observation, an event which has affected one’.
Other words with the PIE per root include empirical, experiment, expert, peril, and pirate(!).
To describe someone as unexperienced comes from the 1560s. To describe someone as experienced (having experience, taught by practice, skillful through doing) is from the 1570s. The verb ‘to experience’ (to test, to try, to learn by practical trial or proof; to ‘feel’ something) comes from the 1580s. The word inexperience comes from the 1590s.
Learning from experience has a ‘trial and error’ sense; however, not mindless trial and error but rather intentional and systematic trial and error. “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”; or, “If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it a different way.”
The word experiential (knowledge gained by testing or trials), from which comes the term ‘experiential learning’, is from the 1640s. An early and well-known proponent of experiential learning was John Dewey, notably his 1938 book, Experience and Education.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
In particular, the origins of the word experience are found in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) per (to try, to risk, to press forward). From this root comes Latin peritus (experienced, tested). Latin ex- (out of) + peritus forms experiri (to try, to test). From experiri comes Latin experientum (experienced), experientia (a trial, proof, experiment, knowledge gained by repeated trials), and Old French esperience (experiment, proof, experience). The word experience came to English in the late 14th century and meant ‘observation as the source of knowledge, actual observation, an event which has affected one’.
Other words with the PIE per root include empirical, experiment, expert, peril, and pirate(!).
To describe someone as unexperienced comes from the 1560s. To describe someone as experienced (having experience, taught by practice, skillful through doing) is from the 1570s. The verb ‘to experience’ (to test, to try, to learn by practical trial or proof; to ‘feel’ something) comes from the 1580s. The word inexperience comes from the 1590s.
Learning from experience has a ‘trial and error’ sense; however, not mindless trial and error but rather intentional and systematic trial and error. “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”; or, “If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it a different way.”
The word experiential (knowledge gained by testing or trials), from which comes the term ‘experiential learning’, is from the 1640s. An early and well-known proponent of experiential learning was John Dewey, notably his 1938 book, Experience and Education.
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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