physician
Americannoun
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a person who is legally qualified to practice medicine; doctor of medicine.
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a person engaged in general medical practice, as distinguished from one specializing in surgery.
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a person who is skilled in the art of healing.
noun
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a person legally qualified to practise medicine, esp one specializing in areas of treatment other than surgery; doctor of medicine
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archaic any person who treats diseases; healer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of physician
1175–1225; physic + -ian ( see -ician); replacing Middle English fisicien < Old French
Explanation
A physician is a doctor. If you wake up and your eyes are red, your skin is yellow, and your tongue is swollen, find a physician, soon! When we use the word physician, we typically mean a doctor that practices general healing, as opposed to a surgeon. Physician is a very old word, coming from both Greek and Latin roots for physic, meaning "natural science and medicine."
Vocabulary lists containing physician
Occupations
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National Nurses Week: Hospital People and Places
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Physician assistants who can fill similar roles are also in high demand, as are other non-MD health providers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
Patients face an average wait of 31 days to secure a new doctor’s appointment, according to AMN Healthcare’s 2025 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times, which covers major metropolitan areas.
From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026
Physician offices are but one front in private equity’s foray into health care.
From Slate • Mar. 17, 2026
Physician associates and anaesthetic associates started working in the NHS in 2003, and it is thought it currently employs more than 5,000 of them.
From BBC • May 14, 2025
Physician Valeri Polyakov set a record for the longest single time spent in space, living on Mir for 437 days, 17 hours, and 38 minutes.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
