Em*pir"i*cism (?), n.
1.
The method or practice of an empiric; pursuit of knowledge by observation and experiment.
2.
Specifically, a practice of medicine founded on mere experience, without the aid of science or a knowledge of principles; ignorant and unscientific practice; charlatanry; quackery.
3. Metaph.
The philosophical theory which attributes the origin of all our knowledge to experience.
© Webster 1913.