physician
Americannoun
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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
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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National Nurses Week: Hospital People and Places
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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.
It would be up to each hospital, health system and physician group to report which staff members exceed the cap and by how much.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
For Pescatore, the New York City physician, the appeal of Europe extends beyond politics.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
One physician, however, is working to change this.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026
But not everyone goes to Harvard Medical School, and doing a residency at a large academic institution doesn’t always translate into being an exemplary physician.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
With her son-in-law and the mayor of San Francisco, who happens to be a physician, standing by as witnesses, Phineas's coffin is uncovered and carried to a shed.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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.
