experiencer

[ ik-speer-ee-uhn-ser ]

noun

1. a person or thing that experiences.
2. (in case grammar) the semantic role of a noun phrase that indicates the perceiver of the action or state of affairs specified by the verb, as the boy in The boy was warm or in The fly annoyed the boy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of experiencer¹

First recorded in 1860–65; experience + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Late in the day, Whitley Strieber, the “Communion” author and legendary professed experiencer, opened the Legends of Ufology panel to thunderous applause.

From Los Angeles Times

His partner was an experiencer, he said, and he wanted to learn more to support her.

From Los Angeles Times

As Buzsáki points out, this entails something like a “homunculus,” a separate experiencer sitting in a mental theater and taking in what the brain “shows” it.

From Scientific American

A frustrated experiencer once told him that when he tried to recall events, “I always fall short.”

From The Guardian

Nonduality is obvious, everything is clearly one, experience needs no experiencer—no duality.

From Scientific American