ethnoscience: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

No. Ethnography is the broad descriptive study of peoples and cultures. Ethnoscience is a specific subfield within ethnography/anthropology focused on a culture's systems of knowledge and classification.

Typically, no. The term is used contrastively to refer to the localized, culturally-embedded knowledge systems of non-Western or indigenous groups, though some scholars argue that all science, including Western science, is culturally situated.

Documenting and analysing the names, uses, and classification of medicinal plants within a traditional healer's knowledge system in a specific region would be a classic example of ethnoscience research.

It remains a standard technical term in anthropology. However, some scholars prefer terms like 'Indigenous Knowledge Systems' (IKS) or 'Traditional Ecological Knowledge' (TEK) as they may be seen as more respectful and less implying a hierarchy between 'science' and 'other knowledge'.

The systematic study of the knowledge systems and classification schemes of a particular culture or indigenous group.

Ethnoscience is usually academic, anthropological, technical in register.

Ethnoscience: in British English it is pronounced /ˈɛθnəʊˌsaɪəns/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈɛθnoʊˌsaɪəns/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.