different between physical vs fleshly

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

English

Etymology

From flesh +? -ly.

Adjective

fleshly (comparative fleshlier, superlative fleshliest)

1. Of or relating to the body.

   Synonyms: bodily, corporeal

   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, King John, Act IV, Scene 2,^[1]

     […] in the body of this fleshly land,

     This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath,

     Hostility and civil tumult reigns

     Between my conscience and my cousin’s death.

   • 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso” in Poems of Mr. John Milton, both English and Latin, London: Humphrey Moseley, p. 40,^[2]

     […] to unfold

     What Worlds, or what vast Regions hold

     The immortal mind that hath forsook

     Her mansion in this fleshly nook:

   • 1668, John Denham, “The Progress of Learning” Part 3, in Poems and Translations; with the Sophy, London: Jacob Tonson, 5th edition, 1709, p. 234,^[3]

     When from their fleshly Bondage they are free,

     Then what divine, and future things they see!

   • 1795, Richard Cumberland, Henry, London: Charles Dilly, Volume 3, Chapter 7, p. 58,^[4]

     those inward pains that agonize us more than all our fleshly wounds

   • 1926, Walter de la Mare, “Missing” in Best Stories of Walter de la Mare, London: Faber and Faber, 1942, p. 175,^[5]

     We shook hands—though I doubt if a mere fleshly contact can express much while the self behind it is dumb with instinctive distaste.

2. Of, relating to or resembling flesh; composed of flesh; having a lot of flesh.

   Synonym: fleshy

   • 1608, Thomas Middleton, A Mad World, My Masters, London: Walter Burre, Act II,^[6]

     […] lay on load enough vpon e’m, and spare e’m not, for the’re good plump fleshly Asses, and may well enough beare it:

   • 1793, uncredited translator, The Natural History of Birds by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, London: A. Strahan, T. Cadell and J. Murray, Volume 2, pp. 52-53,^[7]

     In almost all birds, except the carnivorous kinds, the male seems to have more power of development, which appears in their greater height, the strength of their muscles, and in certain excrescences, as fleshly membranes, spurs, &c. […]

   • 1970, Patrick White, The Vivisector, London: Penguin, Chapter 1, p. 14,^[8]

     He touched the leaves of some of the glossy bushes to find out whether they felt as fleshly as they looked. [At least one U.S. edition has fleshy]^[9]

3. Of or relating to pleasurable (often sexual) sensations.

   Synonyms: carnal, lascivious, sensual

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 2.11,^[10]

     […] abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

   • 1921, John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, New York: Modern Library, 1932, Part 4, Chapter 2, p. 238,^[11]

     A wave of desire for furious fleshly enjoyments went through him, making him want steaming dishes of food drenched in rich, spice-flavored sauces; making him want to get drunk on strong wine; to roll on thick carpets in the arms of naked, libidinous women.

4. Of or relating to non-spiritual or non-religious matters.

   Synonyms: secular, worldly

   Antonyms: heavenly, spiritual

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 2 Corinthians 1.12,^[12]

     […] in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world […]

   • 1857, George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, Volume 2, Chapter 8,^[13]

     Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution: a self-obtrusive, over-hasty reformer complacently disclaiming all merit, while his friends call him a martyr, has not in reality a career the most arduous to the fleshly mind.

Derived terms

• fleshliness
• unfleshly

Translations

Adverb

fleshly (comparative more fleshly, superlative most fleshly)

1. (archaic) In a sensual way; in a sexual way; carnally.
   • 1992, Adam Thorpe, Ulverton, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994, p. 24,^[14]

     And the drunkard is with drink. And the ploughman is with his oxen. And the inhabitant of Ulverton doth loll fleshly abed.