v. 1
To observe certain events; undergo a certain feeling or process; or perform certain actions that may alter one or contribute to one's knowledge, opinions, or skills.
n. 1
The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering.
It was an experience he would not soon forget.

Related words

Word family: experienced experiential
Phrases: experience points work experience

Forms

Plural: experiences → knowledges, lifes, practices, feelings…
Past participle: experienced
e.g. experienced → taken, suffered, getten, received…

Choose the right word

Experience, Acquaintance, Familiarity, Knowledge or Association?

As regards studies, pursuits, etc., acquaintance is less than familiarity, which supposes minute knowledge of particulars, arising often from long experience or association.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

taste My wife's taste in clothes is different from mine.
encounter The story of their encounter is somewhat humorous.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
experience		steady
taste		rising
encounter		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: get¹, see¹
4 letters: have¹, know¹, take¹, life¹, find¹, feel¹, live¹, meet¹, test¹
5 letters: trial², taste¹
6 letters: suffer², endure²
7 letters: feeling², receive², undergo³
8 letters: practice², practise²
9 letters: knowledge², encounter³
12 letters: acquaintance³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (trial² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: éprouver
Deutsch: testen
Català: provar