n.
Pronunciation: hyu ̇ - ' ris-tik
Function: adjective
Etymology: German heuristisch, from New Latin heuristicus, from Greek heuriskein to discover; akin to Old Irish fo- fúair he found
Date: 1821
: involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods < heuristic techniques> <a heuristic assumption> also : of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize self-educating techniques (as the evaluation of feedback) to improve performance <a heuristic computer program>
– heu · ris · ti · cal · ly \ -ti-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb