different between physical vs physics

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

Wikiversity

English

Alternative forms

• physicks (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??????? (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from Ancient Greek ????? (phúsis, “origin; nature, property”), from Ancient Greek ??? (phú?, “produce; bear; grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?uH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?z.?ks/

Noun

physics (uncountable)

1. The branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy.

   Newtonian physics was extended by Einstein to explain the effects of travelling near the speed of light; quantum physics extends it to account for the behaviour of atoms.

2. The physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those studied scientifically.

   The physics of car crashes would not let Tom Cruise walk away like that.

Antonyms

• nonphysics

Hyponyms

Meronyms

• See also Thesaurus:physics

Derived terms

Related terms

• physical
• physicist

Translations

Noun

physics

1. plural of physic

Verb

physics

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of physic

Further reading

• physics in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• physics in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• physics at OneLook Dictionary Search