Etymology From Middle English experiment, from Old French esperiment (French expérience), from Latin experimentum (“experience, attempt, experiment”), from experior (“to experience, to attempt”), itself from ex + *perior, in turn from Proto-Indo-European *per-.
1
A test under controlled conditions made to either demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried.
conduct an experiment
carry out some experiments
3 more examples
perform a scientific experiment
From her childhood she had been accustomed to watch, and often to aid, in her uncle's chemical experiments; she was, therefore, not at a loss, as a complete novice in the science would have been.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Laboratory”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 327:
South Korean officials announced last month that an experiment to create artificial rain did not provide the desired results.2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
2
Obsolete Experience, practical familiarity with something.
Pilot [...] Vpon his card and compas firmes his eye, The maisters of his long experiment, And to them does the steddy helme apply [...].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English experiment, from Old French esperiment (French expérience), from Latin experimentum (“experience, attempt, experiment”), from experior (“to experience, to attempt”), itself from ex + *perior, in turn from Proto-Indo-European *per-.
1
To conduct an experiment.
We're going to experiment on rats.
As well as demonstrating operating facilities, full-size car body models are used for experimenting with new types of interior finish, systems of lighting, positioning of route diagrams and advertisements, and the best form of windscreens at doorways, and the height and location of handgrips and handrails.1951 October, “Models Assist Rolling Stock Design”, in Railway Magazine, page 647:
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Bob is a shameless tourist: Coit Tower, Fisherman's Wharf, Twin Peaks, ad infinitum. I think walking the streets with a map in hand looks dumb; experimenting is much more fun.1978 August 19, David Brill, “California Here I Come!”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 5, page 10:
2
Obsolete To experience; to feel; to perceive; to detect.
The Earth, the which may have carried us about perpetually ... without our being ever able to experiment its rest.1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2)
3
Obsolete To test or ascertain by experiment; to try out; to make an experiment on.
Til they had experimented whiche was trewe, and who knewe most.1481, The Mirrour of the World, William Caxton, 1.5.22:
4
Often, With "with" To try something to observe the results.