different between breathing vs physical

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?i?ð??/

Verb

breathing

1. present participle of breathe

Noun

breathing (countable and uncountable, plural breathings)

1. The act of respiration; a single instance of this.
2. A diacritical mark indicating aspiration or lack thereof.
3. (archaic) Time to recover one's breath; hence, a delay, a spell of time.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1

     DON PEDRO. Count Claudio, when mean you to go to church?

     CLAUDIO. To-morrow, my lord. Time goes on crutches till love have all his rites.

     LEONATO. Not till Monday, my dear son, which is hence a just seven-night; and a time too brief too, to have all things answer my mind.

     DON PEDRO. Come, you shake the head at so long a breathing; but, I warrant thee, Claudio, the time shall not go dully by us.

4. Any gentle influence or operation; inspiration.

   the breathings of the Holy Spirit

5. Aspiration; secret prayer.
   • May 24, 1683, John Tillotson, sermon preached at the funeral of Reverend Benjamin Whichcot

     earnest desires and breathings after that blessed state

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• physickal (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin physic?lis, from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek ?????? (phusik?), feminine singular of ??????? (phusikós).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?f?z?k?l/

Adjective

physical (comparative more physical, superlative most physical)

1. Of medicine.
   1. (obsolete) Pertaining to the field of medicine; medical. [15th–19th c.]
   2. (obsolete) That practises medicine; pertaining to doctors, physicianly. [18th c.]
      • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary, Oxford 2009, p. 19:

        Her father was thrown from his horse, when his blood was in a very inflammatory state, and the bruises were very dangerous; his recovery was not expected by the physical tribe.

   3. (obsolete) Medicinal; good for the health, curative, therapeutic. [16th–19th c.]
      • 1579, Thomas North, translating Pliny, Parallel Lives:

        Phisicall [transl. ??????????? (pharmak?deis)] herbes, as Helleborum, Lingewort, or Beares foote.
2. Of matter or nature.
   1. Pertaining to the world as understood through the senses rather than the mind; tangible, concrete; having to do with the material world. [from 16th c.]

      • Labour, then, in the physical world, is […] employed in putting objects in motion.

   2. In accordance with the laws of nature; now specifically, pertaining to physics. [from 16th c.]

   3. Denoting a map showing natural features of the landscape (compare political). [from 18th c.]
3. Of the human body.
   1. Having to do with the body as opposed to the mind; corporeal, bodily. [from 18th c.]
   2. Sexual, carnal. [from 18th c.]
   3. Involving bodily force or contact; vigorous, aggressive. [from 20th c.]

Antonyms

• mental, psychological; having to do with the mind viewed as distinct from body.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

physical (plural physicals)

1. Physical examination.

   Synonyms: checkup, check-up

2. (parapsychology) A physical manifestation of psychic origin, as through ectoplasmic solidification.

Translations