heuristic adj.

adjectival word-forming element, from French -istique or directly from Latin -isticus, from Greek -istikos, a compound of the adjectival suffix -ikos (see -ic) + the noun suffix -istes (see -ist).

c. 1600, from Greek heureka "I have found (it)," first person singular perfect active indicative of heuriskein "to find" (see heuristic). Supposedly shouted by Archimedes (c. 287-212 B.C.E.) when he solved a problem that had been set to him: determining whether goldsmiths had adulterated the metal in the crown of Hiero II, king of Syracuse.

"study of heuristic methods," 1897, from heuristic (n.), for which see heuristic (adj.); also see -ics.