Sense file
How the sense moved
The archive follows the dated record first, then reads the social or rhetorical pressure that hardened, softened, narrowed, or reversed the word.
Older meaning
Experienced, tried, or tested.
Modern meaning
A person recognized as highly skilled or knowledgeable.
Research lens
Helpful for separating tested competence from the social politics of who gets treated as legitimate.
Meaning trail
Root
tried or tested
Experience is baked into the ancestry.
Older sense
skillful from practice
Competence mattered more than title.
Now
recognized authority
Public trust now rides on the label too.