experimentum

Experimentum is a Latin noun meaning a trial, test, or experiment. It is derived from experiri, to try or to test, and belongs to the second-declension neuter in classical Latin. In early Latin texts it was used broadly to denote any test or demonstration, including medical, legal, and rhetorical contexts.

In the history of science, the term took on a more specialized sense as a method and process of investigation rather than simply a single act of trying. The English word experiment derives from the Latin experimentum, entering English through Medieval Latin with the sense of a trial or test, and by the Scientific Revolution it came to denote systematic, empirical testing of hypotheses. The phrase experimentum crucis, associated with Francis Bacon, referred to a decisive or crucial experiment that could resolve competing hypotheses and became a conceptual touchstone in discussions of method and proof.

In modern usage, an experiment is a systematic procedure undertaken to test a hypothesis under controlled conditions, involving measurement, replication, and analysis. The related adjective experimental and the noun experimentation reflect the Latin legacy. The term remains central in science, education, and policy discussions; in classical texts experimentum appears as a general term for trial or demonstration rather than a modern laboratory procedure.

The Latin root also yields related English terms such as experience and expert, illustrating how experimentum is connected to a broader family of words concerned with testing, trial, and knowledge gained through observation and practice. The form survives in scholarly and historical writings on the development of the scientific method.