different between physician vs medico

English

Alternative forms

• phisician (obsolete)
• phisitian (obsolete)
• physitian (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English fisicien, from Old French fisicïen (“physician”) (modern French physicien (“physicist”)), from fisique (“art of healing”), from Latin physica (“natural science”), from Ancient Greek ?????? ???????? (phusik? epist?m?, “knowledge of nature”), from ??????? (phusikós, “pertaining to nature”). Displaced native Middle English læche, leche, archaic Modern English leech "physician" (from Old English l??e (“physician, medical doctor”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??z???n/
• Hyphenation: phy?si?cian

Noun

physician (plural physicians)

1. A practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon; a practitioner who treats with medication rather than with surgery.

   • His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill; […].
2. A medical doctor trained in human medicine.
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     The doctor had to go to London for a physician to take charge of his practice […].

Usage notes

• In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, a physician holds a postgraduate degree such as Master of General Medicine or fellowship certificate such as MRCP or FRCP from the Royal College of Physicians in UK, or the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Australia and New Zealand. Contrarily, in the United States, the term is frequently regulated by State laws, and in all States includes those with the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree (not to be confused with osteopaths), the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree, and in some States those with the D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic) degree (who are neither medical doctors nor part of allied health).

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:physician

Related terms

Translations

English

Noun

medico (plural medicos)

1. (informal, humorous) A physician or medical doctor; sometimes also a medical student.
   • 1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XV, [1]

     She had travelled with her father as far as the Springs, and both of them were in utter ignorance of the fate which had overtaken the young medico during the journey.

   • 1929, Time, 8 April, 1929, [2]

     He has been an Army medico since the Spanish War, active student of X-ray leprosy treatments and degassing processes.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?.di.ko/
• Hyphenation: mè?di?co

Etymology 1

From Latin medicus, derived from medic? (“cure, heal”).

Adjective

medico (feminine medica, masculine plural medici, feminine plural mediche)

1. medical

Noun

medico m (plural medici)

1. (medicine) doctor, physician

   Synonym: dottore

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• chirurgo

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

medico

1. first-person singular present indicative of medicare

Anagrams

• decimo, decimò

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?me.di.ko?/, [?m?d??ko?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?me.di.ko/, [?m??d?ik?]

Etymology 1

From medicus (“medical”).

Verb

medic? (present infinitive medic?re, perfect active medic?v?, supine medic?tum); first conjugation

1. I heal, cure.
2. I give healing power to.
3. I medicate.
4. I dye with color.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Noun

medic?

1. dative singular of medicus
2. ablative singular of medicus

References

• medico in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• medico in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• medico in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Spanish

Verb

medico

1. First-person singular (yo) present indicative form of medicar.