The Vocabulary Builder’s Blog focuses on the study of words, their origins, their definitions and use, and on ways that you can get the most out of your study program and develop a broad knowledge of English vocabulary and the skill to use that vocabulary effectively. We have years of experience in the field of vocabulary study, and know how to help you overcome any problem you might have with the English language, using all of the resources we’ve collected over the years.

While it’s useful to develop a solid base of knowledge and use that wealth of information to come up with perfect solutions to a problem, sometimes you need to find answers quickly to achieve an immediate goal. The word heuristics (from the Greek heuriskein, meaning “to find, to discover”) refers to a method of problem-solving that is more intuitive, based on common sense, practicality, and trial-and-error methods. You may have heard a saying similar to “don’t let good get in the way of good enough” – that’s heuristics in a nutshell. This problem-solving strategy is based on past experience (your own or others’) and is part of the unconscious decision-making that we do every day, when we take incomplete information and use it to make a judgment on what to do next. Scientists use heuristics in computer programming to speed up search functions and virus scans.

How you interpret the information you have, whether that’s based on a written text or on the actions of the people around you, is hermeneutics. This word comes from the Greek hermeneuein (“to interpret”) and originally referred to the study of religious texts such as the Bible; the word first appeared in the English language in the 17th century, though scriptural interpretation has been a part of both the Christian and Jewish tradition for thousands of years. In a more modern sense, hermeneutics refers to the general interpretation of meanings, and how people communicate and understand each other in the context of their social situation, history, and outlook.

We’ll continue to provide you with the information you need to make the best decisions about your vocabulary study practice, and provide you with the meanings and definitions of useful words.

Do you have questions about a word you’ve come across lately? Post your questions in the comments and we’ll help you find the answers you need.