physic

American  

[fiz-ik] / ˈfɪz ɪk /

noun

1. a medicine that purges; cathartic; laxative.

2. any medicine; a drug or medicament.

3. Archaic. the medical art or profession.

4. Obsolete. natural science.

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verb (used with object)

physicked, physicking

1. to treat with or act upon as a physic or medicine.

2. to work upon as a medicine does; relieve or cure.

physic British  

/ ˈfɪzɪk /

noun

1. rare a medicine or drug, esp a cathartic or purge

2. archaic the art or skill of healing

3. an archaic term for physics

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verb

1. archaic (tr) to treat (a patient) with medicine

Other Word Forms

• physicky adjective

Etymology

Origin of physic

First recorded in 1250–1300; (for the noun) Middle English fisyk(e), phisik(e), from Old French fisique, from Latin physica “natural science” ( Medieval Latin: “medical science”), from Greek physikḗ “science of nature,” noun use of feminine form of physikós “pertaining to nature,” from phýs(is) physis + -ikos -ic; verb derivative of the noun

Explanation

These days, asking the pharmacist for a physic to relieve your constipation will probably get you a blank stare; it's an old-fashioned, rarely-used term for "laxative." Physic comes from the Latin word for "study of nature," so it's unclear how it came to mean a "purging medicine." An almost-synonym is "cathartic," although that word is usually used to describe an emotional purging- like a good cry- rather than physical one. Don't confuse physic with physics, the scientific study of the interaction between energy and matter, or psychic, someone who can read minds and see the future.

Example Sentences

A spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey and purveyor of physic memorabilia online, Williamson spent about a year seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 27, 2023

Lord Sands in “Henry VIII”: ’Tis time to give ’em physic, their diseases are grown so catching.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 16, 2020

Greenall’s Berkeley Square London Dry Gin summons, for him, “the atmosphere of an English physic garden in summer.”

From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2012

Some whites have learned not to take a physic for every stomachache, observed Dr. Boland.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was nothing a good physic or a patent medicine wouldn’t take care of.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck