[ex.pe.ri.ence] n [ME, fr. MF, fr. L experientia act of trying, fr. experient-, experiens, prp. of experiri to try, fr. ex- + -periri (akin to periculum attempt)--more at fear] (14c) 1 a: direct observation of or participation in events as a basis of knowledge b: the fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation
2. a: practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity b: the length of such participation "has
10. years ~ in the job" 3 a: the conscious events that make up an individual life b: the events that make up the conscious past of a community or nation or mankind generally
4: something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through
5: the act or process of directly perceiving events or reality
[2]experience vt -enced ; -enc.ing (1580) 1: to learn by experience "I have experienced that a landscape and the sky unfold the deepest beauty --Nathaniel Hawthorne"
2: to have experience of: undergo "experienced severe hardships as a child"