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medicine

American  
[med-uh-sin, med-suhn] / ˈmɛd ə sɪn, ˈmɛd sən /

noun

  1. any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.

    Synonyms:
    physic, pharmaceutical, drug, medication

  2. 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.

  3. the art or science of treating disease with drugs or curative substances, as distinguished from surgery and obstetrics.

  4. the medical profession.

  5. (among North American Indians) any object or practice regarded as having magical powers.

verb (used with object)

medicined, medicining

  1. to administer medicine to.

idioms

  1. 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.

  2. take one's medicine, to undergo or accept punishment, especially deserved punishment.

    He took his medicine like a man.
medicine British  
/ ˈmɛdsɪn, ˈmɛdɪsɪn /

noun

  1. any drug or remedy for use in treating, preventing, or alleviating the symptoms of disease

  2. the science of preventing, diagnosing, alleviating, or curing disease

  3. any nonsurgical branch of medical science

  4. the practice or profession of medicine

    he's in medicine

  5. something regarded by primitive people as having magical or remedial properties

  6. to accept a deserved punishment

  7. an unpleasant experience in retaliation for and by similar methods to an unkind or aggressive act

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
medicine Scientific  
/ mĕd′ĭ-sĭn /

  1. The scientific study or practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases or disorders of the body or mind of a person or animal.

  2. An agent, such as a drug, used to treat disease or injury.

medicine More Idioms  

  1. see dose of one's own medicine; take one's medicine.

Other Word Forms

  • antimedicine adjective
  • supermedicine noun

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” ( medical ) + -īnus -ine 1

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.

Lilly will acquire sleep medicine company Centessa Pharmaceuticals for an initial $6.3 billion...SpaceX filed for its initial public offering, possibly in July.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

They also received specialised courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weapons.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

“Our mission is to launch this medicine in a volume, unrestricted way throughout the entire world,” Lilly chief medical officer David Hyman said last month at an investor conference.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

States have the authority to regulate the practice of medicine.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026

It wasn’t until the 1960s that medicine finally agreed with him.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

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.