different between physician vs physical

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

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