veterinary medicine

American  

noun

1. the branch of medicine dealing with the study, prevention, and treatment of diseases in animals, especially domesticated animals.

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veterinary medicine British  

noun

1. the branch of medicine concerned with the health of animals and the treatment of injuries or diseases that affect them

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veterinary medicine Scientific  

/ vĕt′ər-ə-nĕr′ē /

1. The branch of medicine that deals with the diseases or injuries of animals and their treatment.

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Etymology

Origin of veterinary medicine

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Party A and Party B agree to share physical custody and pet costs, including veterinary, medicine, and pet-food costs associated with Beatrice, a Maine coon cat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Starting in July, graduate students attending professional programs, including for medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, will be able to borrow a maximum of $200,000 over the course of their degree.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

"Solving this biomechanical puzzle required combining approaches from veterinary medicine to acoustic physics," says author Romain Lefèvre of the University of Copenhagen.

From Science Daily • Feb. 25, 2026

Ketamine is used legitimately in human and veterinary medicine as an anaesthetic, for pain relief and more recently to manage treatment-resistant depression.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

The literature of veterinary medicine does not lack for cases of animals felled by swainsonine poisoning after grazing on forage contaminated with R. leguminicola.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer