episteme
/ˌɛp.əˈsti.mi/noun
episteme is a noun meaning “Scientific knowledge; a principled system of understanding; sometimes contrasted with empiricism” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled E-P-I-S-T-E-M-E and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 21 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of episteme is epistemes or epistemai.
What does episteme mean?
noun
- 1
Scientific knowledge; a principled system of understanding; sometimes contrasted with empiricism.
- 2
Know-how; compare techne.
- 3
The fundamental body of ideas and collective presuppositions that defines the nature and sets the bounds of what is accepted as true knowledge in a given epistemic epoch.
An 'episteme' is the “underground” grid or network which allows thought to organize itself. Each historical period has its own episteme. It limits the totality of experience, knowledge and truth, and governs each science in one period. Clas
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of episteme.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of episteme.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce episteme?
- UK /ˌɛp.ɪˈstiː.mi/
- US /ˌɛp.əˈsti.mi/
- /ˈɛp.ɪsˌtiːm/
Episteme has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sumxr-episteme.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of episteme
- epistemes plural
- epistemai plural
- epistemé
- epistêmê
- epistêmês plural
- epistemés plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is episteme?
Episteme appears about once in every 21 million words in written English, the 139,999th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Episteme in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does episteme come from?
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “knowledge”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).