# scientist

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsaɪəntɪst/ · frequency rank #5,080

## Definitions
1. One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. A scientist may be involved in original research, or make use of the results of the research of others.

## Etymology
Coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in March 1834 in an anonymous review of Mary Somerville's book On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences in the Quarterly Review as a suggested replacement for, and later seriously introduced by him in 1840 (see the quotation) as a more precise substitute for, the terms natural philosopher and man of science. Modeled after artist, from the Latin stem scientia (“knowledge”) + -ist.

## Common misspellings (14)
`csientist`, `sccientist`, `sceintist`, `scienitst`, `scienntist`, `scientisst`, `scientistt`, `scientits`, `scientsit`, `scienttist`, `scietnist`, `scinetist`, `sicentist`, `sscientist`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scientist