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heuristic

 - 4 dictionary results

heu⋅ris⋅tic

  [hyoo-ris-tik or, often, yoo-]
Use heuristic in a Sentence
–adjective
1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.
4. Computers, Mathematics. pertaining to a trial-and-error method of problem solving used when an algorithmic approach is impractical.
–noun
5. a heuristic method of argument.
6. the study of heuristic procedure.
Origin:
1815–25; < NL heuristicus, equiv. to Gk heur(ískein) to find out, discover + L -isticus -istic

Related forms:
heu⋅ris⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To heuristic
heu·ris·tic   (hyŏŏ-rĭs'tĭk)   
adj.  

  1. Of or relating to a usually speculative formulation serving as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem: "The historian discovers the past by the judicious use of such a heuristic device as the 'ideal type'" (Karl J. Weintraub).

  2. Of or constituting an educational method in which learning takes place through discoveries that result from investigations made by the student.

  3. Computer Science Relating to or using a problem-solving technique in which the most appropriate solution of several found by alternative methods is selected at successive stages of a program for use in the next step of the program.

n.  

  1. A heuristic method or process.

  2. heuristics (used with a sing. verb) The study and application of heuristic methods and processes.


[From Greek heuriskein, to find.]
heu·ris'ti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

heuristic 
"serving to discover or find out," 1821, irregular formation from Gk. heuretikos "inventive," related to heuriskein "to find" (cognate with O.Ir. fuar "I have found"). Heuristics "study of heuristic methods," first recorded 1959.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

heuristic
1. A rule of thumb, simplification, or educated guess that reduces or limits the search for solutions in domains that are difficult and poorly understood. Unlike algorithms, heuristics do not guarantee optimal, or even feasible, solutions and are often used with no theoretical guarantee.
2. approximation algorithm.
(2001-04-12)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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