Ex*per"i*ment (?), n. [L.
experimentum, fr. experiri to try: cf. OF.
esperiment, experiment. See Experience.]
1. A trial or special observation, made to
confirm or disprove something doubtful; esp., one under conditions
determined by the experimenter; an act or operation undertaken in
order to discover some unknown principle or effect, or to test,
establish, or illustrate some suggested or known truth; practical
test; proof.
A political experiment can not be made in a
laboratory, nor determined in a few hours.
J.
Adams.
2. Experience. [Obs.]
Adam, by sad experiment I know
How little weight my words with thee can find.
Milton.
Ex*per"i*ment (?), v. t. [imp.
& p. p. Experimented; p. pr. & vb.
n. Experinenting.] To make experiment; to
operate by test or trial; -- often with on, upon, or
in, referring to the subject of an experiment; with,
referring to the instrument; and by, referring to the
means; as, to experiment upon electricity; he
experimented in plowing with ponies, or by steam
power.
Ex*per"i*ment, v. t. To try; to
know, perceive, or prove, by trial or experience. [Obs.]
Sir T. Herbert.
