Heuristic /(hū̇*rĭs"tĭk)/

Heu·ris·tic

Heuristic

a.
  1. Serving to promote discovery or learning; -- used especially of thories or paradigms which stimulate new ideas for discovering facts in experimental sciences.
  2. Serving to stimulate people to learn and discover on their own, especially by encouraging experimental and trial-and-error methods for solving problems.
  3. Pertaining to or based on trial-and-error and experimental methods of learning and evaluation.
  4. Based on the use of an efficient trial-and error method to search a space of possible solutions to a problem, or to find an acceptable approximate solution, when an exact algorithmic method is unavailable or too time-consuming. (Computers)

Heuristic

n.
  1. A heuristic method; a specific heuristic procedure.
  2. A theory or approach which serves to promote discovery or learning by encouraging experimentation.