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scientist

/ˈsaɪəntəst/
/ˈsaɪɛntɪst/
IPA guide

Other forms: scientists

A scientist is a person with some kind of knowledge or expertise in any of the sciences, like biology or chemistry. See that guy in the white lab coat wearing pocket protectors and experimenting with chemicals? He’s definitely a scientist.

The word science comes from the Latin, scientia, which means "knowledge." The sciences are branches of knowledge about the world that derive from repeated experiments. A scientist is any person with an interest in the sciences, from amateurs to professionals. A curious high school student interested in seeing what happens when he slips vinegar into his best friend's can of soda could be considered a kind of scientist!

Definitions of scientist
  1. noun
    a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
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    examples:
    Roger Bacon
    English scientist and Franciscan monk who stressed the importance of experimentation; first showed that air is required for combustion and first used lenses to correct vision (1220-1292)
    Benjamin Franklin
    printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists; as a scientist he is remembered particularly for his research in electricity (1706-1790)
    Sir Francis Galton
    English scientist (cousin of Charles Darwin) who explored many fields including heredity, meteorology, statistics, psychology, and anthropology; founder of eugenics and first to use fingerprints for identification (1822-1911)
    William Harvey
    English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood; he later proposed that all animals originate from an ovum produced by the female of the species (1578-1657)
    Robert Hooke
    English scientist who formulated the law of elasticity and proposed a wave theory of light and formulated a theory of planetary motion and proposed the inverse square law of gravitational attraction and discovered the cellular structure of cork and introduced the term `cell' into biology and invented a balance spring for watches (1635-1703)
    types:
    cosmographer, cosmographist
    a scientist knowledgeable about cosmography
    bibliotist
    someone who engages in bibliotics
    biologist, life scientist
    (biology) a scientist who studies living organisms
    chemist
    a scientist who specializes in chemistry
    cognitive scientist
    a scientist who studies cognitive processes
    computer scientist
    a scientist who specializes in the theory of computation and the design of computers
    geologist
    a specialist in geology
    linguist, linguistic scientist
    a specialist in linguistics
    mathematician
    a person skilled in mathematics
    medical scientist
    a scientist who studies disease processes
    microscopist
    a scientist who specializes in research with the use of microscopes
    mineralogist
    a scientist trained in mineralogy
    oceanographer
    a scientist who studies physical and biological aspects of the seas
    fossilist, palaeontologist, paleontologist
    a specialist in paleontology
    physicist
    a scientist trained in physics
    PI, principal investigator
    the scientist in charge of an experiment or research project
    psychologist
    a scientist trained in psychology
    radiologic technologist
    a scientist trained in radiological technology
    investigator, research worker, researcher
    a scientist who devotes himself to doing research
    social scientist
    someone expert in the study of human society and its personal relationships
    behaviorist, behaviourist
    a psychologist who subscribes to behaviorism
    experimenter
    a research worker who conducts experiments
    acoustician
    a physicist who specializes in acoustics
    algebraist
    a mathematician whose specialty is algebra
    anthropologist
    a social scientist who specializes in anthropology
    arithmetician
    someone who specializes in arithmetic
    astronomer, stargazer, uranologist
    a physicist who studies astronomy
    bacteriologist
    a biologist who studies bacteria
    biochemist
    someone with special training in biochemistry
    biophysicist
    a physicist who applies the methods of physics to biology
    boffin
    (British slang) a scientist or technician engaged in military research
    botanist, phytologist, plant scientist
    a biologist specializing in the study of plants
    cognitive neuroscientist
    a cognitive scientist who studies the neurophysiological foundations of mental phenomena
    computational linguist
    someone trained in computer science and linguistics who uses computers for natural language processing
    cytologist
    a biologist who studies the structure and function of cells
    ecologist
    a biologist who studies the relation between organisms and their environment
    economic expert, economist
    an expert in the science of economics
    epidemiologist
    a medical scientist who studies the transmission and control of epidemic diseases
    fieldworker
    a researcher who works in the field
    geneticist
    a biologist who specializes in genetics
    geometer, geometrician
    a mathematician specializing in geometry
    geophysicist
    a geologist who uses physical principles to study the properties of the earth
    grammarian, syntactician
    a linguist who specializes in the study of grammar and syntax
    Hebraist
    linguist specializing in the Hebrew language
    hydrologist
    a geologist skilled in hydrology
    hypnotiser, hypnotist, hypnotizer, mesmerist, mesmerizer
    a person who induces hypnosis
    immunologist
    a medical scientist who specializes in immunology
    lexicographer, lexicologist
    a compiler or writer of a dictionary; a student of the lexical component of language
    microbiologist
    a specialist in microbiology
    molecular biologist
    a biologist who studies the structure and activity of macromolecules essential to life
    natural scientist, naturalist
    a biologist knowledgeable about natural history (especially botany and zoology)
    neurobiologist
    a specialist in neurobiology
    neurolinguist
    someone trained in neuroscience and linguistics who studies brain processes during language production and reception
    nuclear chemist, radiochemist
    a chemist who specializes in nuclear chemistry
    nuclear physicist
    a physicist who specializes in nuclear physics
    number theorist
    a mathematician specializing in number theory
    parapsychologist
    someone who studies the evidence for such psychological phenomena as psychokinesis and telepathy and clairvoyance
    penologist
    a person who studies the theory and practice of prison management
    oil geologist, petroleum geologist
    a specialist in petroleum geology
    phonetician
    a specialist in phonetics
    phonologist
    a specialist in phonology
    physiologist
    a scientist who studies how living organisms function
    phytochemist
    a chemist who specializes in the chemistry of plants
    political scientist
    a social scientist specializing in the study of government
    post doc, postdoc
    a scholar or researcher who is involved in academic study beyond the level of a doctoral degree
    probability theorist
    a mathematician who specializes in probability theory
    psycholinguist
    a person (usually a psychologist but sometimes a linguist) who studies the psychological basis of human language
    psychophysicist
    a psychologist trained in psychophysics
    radiobiologist
    a biologist who studies the effects of radiation on living organisms
    semanticist, semiotician
    a specialist in the study of meaning
    serologist
    a medical scientist who specializes in serology
    sociobiologist
    a biologist who studies the biological determinants of social behavior
    sociolinguist
    a linguist who studies the social and cultural factors that influence linguistic communication
    sociologist
    a social scientist who studies the institutions and development of human society
    mathematical statistician, statistician
    a mathematician who specializes in statistics
    systematist, taxonomer, taxonomist
    a biologist who specializes in the classification of organisms into groups on the basis of their structure and origin and behavior
    toxicologist
    one who studies the nature and effects of poisons and their treatment
    trigonometrician
    a mathematician specializing in trigonometry
    vivisectionist
    a biologist who cuts open live animals for research
    animal scientist, zoologist
    a specialist in the branch of biology dealing with animals
    Charles Hard Townes, Charles Townes, Townes
    United States physicist who developed the laser and maser principles for producing high-intensity radiation (1915-)
    type of:
Pronunciation
US
/ˈsaɪəntəst/
UK
/ˈsaɪɛntɪst/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘scientist'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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