Expert
The term ‘expert’ comes from the Latin adjective expertus, the past participle of the verb experior, which means ‘to try’ or ‘to experiment.’ Hence, expertus meant ‘to have tried’ or ‘to have experienced.’ However, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary indicates that the use of ‘expert’ to mean ‘experienced’ is now obsolete. Instead, we find that the adjective ‘expert’ now means ‘trained by practice’ or ‘skilled’, and the noun ‘expert’ carries the additional meaning: ‘One whose special knowledge causes him to be an authority’ or ‘a specialist’ [Eraut, M., p. 173].
Expertise, itself, is a descriptive term. To describe is to add detail in the specific case to a more general definition. A description of expertise requires an inventory of what the expert knows, knows how to do, wants or intends to do, and what he or she does or achieves. Psychologically, knowledge and skills are mental or cognitive concepts. They are not material entities known by their physical makeup; they are states of mind. This fact alone does not make them unscientific. Instead, they are pretty sound scientific concepts, known by their function, by the behavior potential they provide [Bourne Jr., L. E., Kole, J. A., & Healy, A. F., p. 1].
Eraut, M. (2005). Expert and expertise: Meanings and perspectives. Learning in Health and Social Care, 4(4), 173-179. Hoboken: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Bourne Jr., L. E., Kole, J. A., & Healy, A. F. (2014). Expertise: defined, described, explained. Frontiers in Psychology. Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00186/full