Hippocrates

American  

[hi-pok-ruh-teez] / hɪˈpɒk rəˌtiz /

noun

1. Father of Medicine, c460–c377 b.c., Greek physician.

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Hippocrates British  

/ hɪˈpɒkrəˌtiːz /

noun

1. ?460–?377 _bc , Greek physician, commonly regarded as the father of medicine

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Hippocrates Scientific  

/ hĭ-pŏk′rə-tēz′ /

1. Greek physician who is credited with establishing the foundations of scientific medicine. He and his followers worked to distinguish medicine from superstition and magic beliefs by basing their treatment of illness on close observation and rational deduction.

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Hippocrates Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek physician (the “father of medicine”) who is credited with founding the study of medicine.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Hippocratical
  adjective
• Hippocratic
  adjective

Example Sentences

The Greek medical tradition, starting with Hippocrates, tried to make sickness a secular matter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

The poppy plant is also referenced in several ancient texts, including the Ebers Papyrus, Hippocrates, Dioscorides's De Materia Medica, and Galen.

From Science Daily • Dec. 18, 2025

If, like Hippocrates, we consider food and drugs as serving the same function, we can incorporate concepts of medicine into our eating habits.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2024

Hippocrates even wrote about castoreum’s healing properties of castoreum in 500 B.C.

From National Geographic • Nov. 15, 2023

"Our great Hippocrates, the father of medicine, says that a bellyful is bad, and if it is a bellyful of partridges, it is worse."

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios