epistemic

adjective

ep·​i·​ste·​mic ˌe-pə-ˈstē-mik 

-ˈste-mik

: of or relating to knowledge or knowing : cognitive

epistemically

ˌe-pə-ˈstē-mi-k(ə-)lē 

-ˈste-mi-

adverb

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The Evolution of Epistemic

Epistemic has shifted from the arcane worlds of philosophy, linguistics, and rhetoric to the practical realms of business and marketing; for example, a 2007 Letter to Shareholders from the asset management firm Legg Mason referred to investors who "have a high epistemic threshold and do exhaustive analysis to create near certainty, or at least very high conviction, about their investments." Wherever it is used, epistemic traces back to the knowledge of the Greeks. It comes from epistēmē, Greek for "knowledge." That Greek word is from the verb epistanai, meaning "to know or understand," a word formed from the prefix epi- (meaning "upon" or "attached to") and histanai (meaning "to cause to stand"). The study of the nature and grounds of knowledge is called epistemology, and one who engages in such study is an epistemologist.

Examples of epistemic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These are empirical life preservers that pull us out of the epistemic whirlpool. —Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

Manipulated media is far from harmless, but its harms have not been epistemic. —Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023

Will either ever be as essential or influential as Twitter among epistemic elites? —Katherine Alejandra Cross, WIRED, 13 July 2023

These human sciences present a patchwork of conflicting claims to epistemic supremacy. —Jason Blakely, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

Greek epistḗmē "skill, expertise, knowledge, scientific knowledge (as opposed to practical skill)" + -ic entry 1; epistḗmē, from epístamai, epístasthai "to have the skill, know how (with infinitive), have knowledge of, understand" (from epi- epi- + Greek hístēmi, histánai "to cause to stand, place," middle voice hístamai, hístasthai "to take up a position, come and stand") + -mē, abstract noun suffix — more at assist entry 1

Note: The long vowel -ē- in epistḗmē, for expected -a-, has been explained as carried over from the adjective epistḗmōn "having knowledge, skillful" (as the suffix -mōn usually requires length of the preceding vowel), or alternatively from the influence of abstract nouns with the same suffix, as mnḗmē "memory," phḗmē "utterance, prophecy." The verb epístamai, formed from the prefix epi- and hístamai "to take up a position," appears to show early deletion of /h/ and contraction; alternatively, it has been hypothesized that the base verb is *stámai without reduplication. Beside epístamai there is a regularly formed verb ephístēmi, ephistánai "to set, place," ephístamai, ephístasthai "come and stand (at a place), take up a position, approach" that may have been created after epístamai had lost its original literal meaning. The sense progression is presumably something like "stand in the presence of something (or someone)," hence "perceive clearly," then "understand." The same development is evident in Old English forstandan "to understand," Old High German forstān. Compare understand.

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

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