Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - science

 noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin scientia, from scient-, sciens having knowledge, from present participle of scire to know; perhaps akin to Sanskrit chyati he cuts off, Latin scindere to split — more at shed  Date: 14th century  1. the state of knowing ; knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding  2.  a. a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study the ~ of theology  b. something (as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned like systematized knowledge have it down to a ~  3.  a. knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method  b. such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena ; natural ~  4. a system or method reconciling practical ends with scientific laws cooking is both a ~ and an art  5. capitalized Christian Science