physic

American  

[fiz-ik] / ˈfɪz ɪk /

noun

• physics
  plural

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)

• physics,
  present (3rd person singular)
• physicked,
  past participle,  past
• physicking
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• physicky
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• physics
  plural

Participles

• physicking
  present
• physicked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• physic
  simple
• physics
  simple
• have physicked
  perfect
• has physicked
  perfect
• am physicking
  progressive
• are physicking
  progressive
• is physicking
  progressive
• have been physicking
  perfect progressive
• has been physicking
  perfect progressive

Past

• physicked
  simple
• had physicked
  perfect
• was physicking
  progressive
• were physicking
  progressive
• had been physicking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will physic
  simple
• will have physicked
  perfect
• will be physicking
  progressive
• will have been physicking
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

physic physics physicked physicking

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

His modest knowledge of physic was of assistance to the great Franklin, the great Linnaeus, and Catherine the Great, who conceived a dangerous gratitude for him after he removed her stone.

From Time Magazine Archive

Phusis became the source of physic, which at first meant natural science and later was the word for medicine.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

The Kondo effect has been studied extensively because, although its underlying physics is complex, the basic problem is relatively straightforward to describe.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Earlier this week, the prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature were announced in Stockholm, with the latter going to Canadian poet Anne Carson on Thursday for her modern twists on Greek mythology and antiquity.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

A game's engine is a piece of software that packs everything needed to craft a playable experience - including graphics rendering, physics simulation and scripting - into one place for creators.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

"It has been a long debate in our field, on whether the plasma should respond to a quark," says Yen-Jie Lee, professor of physics at MIT.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

You apply the problem to the place you implement it—the trapeze bar that lets you feel the way the physics equations work.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Being a capable needlewoman she soon had them apparelled more to her liking, and the labour physicked pain.

From Judith of the Cumberlands by Alice MacGowan

November was considered a good month for invalids being bled or physicked, but every day was not considered equally lucky for applying the lance or swallowing the draught.

From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James Grant

If a bullet was extracted, a gun repaired, an old sultan physicked, or the split lobe of an ear mended, a cow or cows were at hand to be paid when the task was finished.

From Great African Travellers From Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley by William Henry Giles Kingston

Say”––his eyes wandered to where his carefully written regulations were posted, “talkin’ o’ baths, have you physicked the kids right?”

From The Twins of Suffering Creek by Ridgwell Cullum

The doctors came, physicked but did not bleed him, and yesterday morning he was better.

From The Greville Memoirs (Second Part) A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852 (Volume 1 of 3) by Charles Greville

Sometimes they pine and fall into a slow consumption, we nursing, cockering, and physicking them to the last.

From Nancy by Rhoda Broughton

At the date to which I am referring, some forty years ago, there was a great taste in many private families for immoderate physicking.

From The Gentleman Cadet His Career and Adventures at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich by A.W. Drayson

This physicking was continued for two long, long days, and then I began slowly to recover.

From Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North by Ida Pfeiffer

But Victoria easily recovered from and forgot this preliminary and bad physicking, and was soon to be seen galloping on its road of progress as if nothing to its damage could ever have happened.

From Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria by William Westgarth

The popular treatment, which comprehends blood-letting, physicking, and the use of powerful diuretics, has proved notoriously unsuccessful.

From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by George Dadd