practitioner

American  

[prak-tish-uh-ner] / prækˈtɪʃ ə nər /

noun

• practitioners
  plural

1. a person engaged in the practice of a profession, occupation, etc..

   a medical practitioner.

2. a person who practices something specified.

3. Christian Science. a person authorized to practice healing.

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practitioner British  

/ prækˈtɪʃənə /

noun

1. a person who practises a profession or art

2. Christian Science a person authorized to practise spiritual healing

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• practitioners
  plural

Etymology

Origin of practitioner

1535–45; alteration of practician ( practic + -ian ) + -er ¹

Explanation

A practitioner is an expert who uses that knowledge as part of a profession. Every yoga practitioner started by attending an introductory class. In practitioner, you can see the word practice, which everyone says will make you perfect. Practice can also mean the clients, daily activities, and location where a professional such as a doctor works. So a practitioner is someone who has learned everything about his or her field and is actively working in that field. So don't worry about going to the doctor — you won't be practice for this practitioner.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

practitioner practitioners

Supplying prescription-only medicines is an offence under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 unless you are an "appropriate practitioner" such as a doctor or a pharmacist.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The review called for practitioner licensing, stronger training requirements and tighter controls over who should be allowed to perform cosmetic procedures.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

Lodge, 71, a veteran practitioner in this rather arcane field, is a man who’s both exactly what you’d expect him to be and perhaps not what you anticipated.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

I started my career as a registered nurse and worked hard to become a nurse practitioner and educator, which wouldn’t have been possible without federal student loans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

Culver, a prominent local citizen and practitioner of diversified farming, his handsome daughter, Miss Tansy Culver, two young sons, and Mr. Culver’s sister-in-law, Miss Singleterry, who was flung some distance off the tailgate.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Most of the remaining practitioners have little online presence, and many cannot be found through major search platforms.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Editing is traditionally a solitary art form, its practitioners working after shooting has wrapped to assemble the story from the captured footage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Ms. Sampson, a professor emerita of poetry at the University of Roehampton, expertly immerses readers in the cultural and intellectual world that produced one of the greatest practitioners of 19th-century literature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Experts have attributed the cases to a lack of state regulation, the use of expired medicines and unqualified practitioners working illegally.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

So they were overwhelmingly solo practitioners, handling wills and divorces and contracts and minor disputes, and in the Depression the work of the solo practitioner all but disappeared.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• doctor
• master
• professional
• specialist