Definition of "heuristic" []

• Of or relating to a usually speculative formulation serving as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem: "The historian discovers the past by the judicious use of such a heuristic device as the 'ideal type'” ( Karl J. Weintraub). (adjective)
• Of or constituting an educational method in which learning takes place through discoveries that result from investigations made by the student. (adjective)
• Computer Science Relating to or using a problem-solving technique in which the most appropriate solution of several found by alternative methods is selected at successive stages of a program for use in the next step of the program. (adjective)
• A heuristic method or process. (noun)
• The study and application of heuristic methods and processes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Perhaps one term in the heuristic is the number of non-english words/names?"
• "This is called a heuristic: a mental shortcut arrived at almost without thought because experience has forged the connections so deeply."
• "Personally I’ve found that a very good heuristic is exactly what Josh describes."