medicine
Americannoun
-
medicines
plural
-
any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.
- Synonyms:
- physic, pharmaceutical, drug, medication
-
the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operations or appliances, or manipulations: often divided into medicine proper, surgery, and obstetrics.
-
the art or science of treating disease with drugs or curative substances, as distinguished from surgery and obstetrics.
-
the medical profession.
-
(among North American Indians) any object or practice regarded as having magical powers.
verb (used with object)
idioms
-
give someone a dose / taste of his / her own medicine, to repay or punish a person for an injury by use of the offender's own methods.
-
take one's medicine, to undergo or accept punishment, especially deserved punishment.
He took his medicine like a man.
noun
-
any drug or remedy for use in treating, preventing, or alleviating the symptoms of disease
-
the science of preventing, diagnosing, alleviating, or curing disease
-
any nonsurgical branch of medical science
-
the practice or profession of medicine
he's in medicine
-
something regarded by primitive people as having magical or remedial properties
-
to accept a deserved punishment
-
an unpleasant experience in retaliation for and by similar methods to an unkind or aggressive act
-
The scientific study or practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases or disorders of the body or mind of a person or animal.
-
An agent, such as a drug, used to treat disease or injury.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of medicine
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English medicin, from Latin medicīna (ars) “healing (art),” feminine of medicīnus “pertaining to a physician,” from medic(us) “physician” ( cf. medical) + -īnus -ine 1
Explanation
Medicine is the field (and body of knowledge) that teaches doctors how to help people. Doctors also give medicine to patients. Cough syrup, antibiotics, and pills are all forms of medicine. When someone gives you medicine, they are medicating you. People who study medicine become doctors and nurses. Without the field of medicine — which expands all the time — there would be so much more sickness and death. Medicine is devoted to finding out everything about health, illness, and the human body.
Vocabulary lists containing medicine
National Nurses Week: Common Medical Terms
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Abbey Road
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 4
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Those who suspect they have Lewy body dementia symptoms should contact a neurologist or a clinician trained in either geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry for an evaluation, Vossel said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The French drugmaker is moving to fill its medicine pipeline to prepare for the looming patent expiration of its bestselling product, Dupixent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Mr. Vlasenko’s companions kept him alive for months with drone deliveries of medicine, including antibiotics, painkillers and topical antiseptic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
She said: "I remember thinking, something's not right here. All of my friends and people I know that wanted to do medicine weren't getting the grades that they got in their prelims."
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
As he studied the medicine horn in his hand, the blood drained from his face.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
EXCLUSIVE: The U.K. drugmaker currently has five approved cancer medicines and a clinical-stage portfolio of about 15 assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The biopharma is moving quickly to bring new medicines to market faster.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
A jump in sales of specialty medicines allowed GSK to offset a declining vaccines revenue and a flat performance in its general medicines segment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
But she can't do anything to reduce her £200 council tax bill, or the amount she spends on medicines for her various health conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Unfortunately, patients would often use only enough of these medicines to reduce the symptoms, saving the rest for future bouts of the disease.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
This man medicined my body from without nor anointed me with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is none other than consummate skill!
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
He followed in her wake without her knowing it, and made for his own lodging where he dressed his wounds and medicined himself till he was whole.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 01 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
But the slave-girl medicined herself and became well; and she kept what remained of the poison and sold it to those who asked for it.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 14 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
"Fill high the bowl, benumb His aching sense With medicined sleep."—O awful in Thy woe!
From The Christian Year by John Keble
I question whether reading Seneca, or Epictetus, or any moral or philosophic writer, living or dead, would have as effectually medicined my mind.
From Tales and Novels — Volume 09 by Maria Edgeworth
A great great sin plots in the house this day; Too strong for the faithful, beyond medicining … And help stands far away.
From The Agamemnon of Aeschylus Translated into English Rhyming Verse with Explanatory Notes by Gilbert Murray
And she Shall know no more its tender, sweet caress, Soft medicining woe.
From Lilith The Legend of the First Woman by Ada Langworthy Collier
Go thou thy way, sorrowful and suffering soul, alone; and if thy own heart bleeds, strive thou to soothe its pangs, by medicining the wounds and healing the hurts of another.
From What Answer? by Anna E. Dickinson
Thus, by the secret hand of Thy medicining was my swelling abated, and the troubled and bedimmed eyesight of my mind, by the smarting anointings of healthful sorrows, was from day to day healed.
From The Confessions of St. Augustine by E. B. (Edward Bouverie) Pusey
Certainly, now you see that all your Doctoring and medicining hath been to some purpose, and now you feel also that all herbs were made for some good effects.
From The Ten Pleasures of Marriage and the Second Part, The Confession of the New Married Couple by A. Marsh
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
