physician
Americannoun
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physicians
plural
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a person who is legally qualified to practice medicine; doctor of medicine.
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a person engaged in general medical practice, as distinguished from one specializing in surgery.
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a person who is skilled in the art of healing.
noun
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a person legally qualified to practise medicine, esp one specializing in areas of treatment other than surgery; doctor of medicine
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archaic any person who treats diseases; healer
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of physician
1175–1225; physic + -ian ( see -ician); replacing Middle English fisicien < Old French
Explanation
A physician is a doctor. If you wake up and your eyes are red, your skin is yellow, and your tongue is swollen, find a physician, soon! When we use the word physician, we typically mean a doctor that practices general healing, as opposed to a surgeon. Physician is a very old word, coming from both Greek and Latin roots for physic, meaning "natural science and medicine."
Vocabulary lists containing physician
Occupations
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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:
A physician sitting down to talk at a patient’s eye level before delivering devastating news.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
"The microbiome is emerging as an important factor in cancer care," said co-senior study author Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD, chief physician executive at City of Hope.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
While many scientists have made significant contributions in the field, three regularly mentioned for the Nobel are Canadian endocrinologist Daniel Drucker, Danish physician Jens Juul Holst and Yugoslav-born American chemist Svetlana Mojsov.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
As the longevity physician Hillary Lin described it at a women’s health event, longevity medicine is “good medicine, practiced early.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Gilbert was an extremely successful and eminent physician, who held just about every office in the Royal College in turn, culminating in his election as President in 1599.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
“That’s essentially what scientists and physicians are,” Naughton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
But before we got into politics, we were both physicians in internal medicine and cardiothoracic surgery, respectively.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
Many physicians question whether it’s outdated or strains an already stretched healthcare system.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026
Compatible blood was unavailable, so physicians ultimately transfused unmatched red blood cells after weighing the risks.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
There was extensive nerve damage, which his physicians regarded as permanent.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
