experience

A2 Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ɪkˈspɪɹ.i.əns/ UK /ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/ See IPA manual

Freq #1083

Meanings

1

noun
The knowledge or skill you gain from doing something over time.

The experience I gained in six months on the job eclipsed what I had learned in school.
2

noun
Something that happens to you and affects how you feel or think.

Living abroad was an experience he would never forget.

Thesaurus

Opposites

inexperience

Word family

Forms experiencesexperiencing

Derived forms coexperienceeggsperienceexperienced experiencelessexperiencerexperiencewiseexperientialinterexperiencenonexperiencepostexperiencepseudoexperiencesexperience

Appears in

Phrases (10)

See all

have experience
to possess knowledge or skill acquired through past events or practice

Verb + noun
personal experience
something you know or have felt from your own life, not from books or others

Adjective + noun
valuable experience
experience that is especially useful or informative

Adjective + noun
work experience
time spent working in an organization, especially to learn about a profession

Adjective + noun
gain experience
to acquire practical knowledge or skill through doing something

Verb + noun
lack experience
to not have enough practical knowledge or skill in an area

Verb + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Experience is the best teacher

Etymology

From Middle English experience, from Old French, from Latin experientia (“a trial, proof, experiment, experimental knowledge, experience”), from experiens, present participle of experiri (“to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo”), from ex (“out”) + peritus (“experienced, expert”), past participle of *periri (“to go through”); see expert and peril. Displaced native Old English āfandung (“experience”) and āfandian (“to experience”).

*per- Proto-Indo-European experience Middle English experientia Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# experience

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪkˈspɪɹ.i.əns/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/
**Frequency rank:** 1083

## Meanings
1. The knowledge or skill you gain from doing something over time.
2. Something that happens to you and affects how you feel or think.

## Examples
- The experience I gained in six months on the job eclipsed what I had learned in school.
- Living abroad was an experience he would never forget.

## Antonyms
- inexperience

## Derived Forms
- coexperience
- eggsperience
- experienced
- experienceless
- experiencer
- experiencewise
- experiential
- interexperience
- nonexperience
- postexperience
- pseudoexperience
- sexperience

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *per-
- Root: experience
- Root: experientia

## Etymology
From Middle English experience, from Old French, from Latin experientia (“a trial, proof, experiment, experimental knowledge, experience”), from experiens, present participle of experiri (“to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo”), from ex (“out”) + peritus (“experienced, expert”), past participle of *periri (“to go through”); see expert and peril. Displaced native Old English āfandung (“experience”) and āfandian (“to experience”).

## AI Etymology
Experience comes from Middle English experience, from Old French, from Latin experientia (“a trial, proof, experiment, experimental knowledge, experience”), from experiens, present participle of experiri (“to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo”), from ex (“out”) + peritus (“experienced, expert”), past participle of *periri (“to go through”); see expert and peril. Displaced native Old English āfandung (“experience”) and āfandian (“to experience”).

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

markdown