veterinarian
Americannoun
-
veterinarians
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of veterinarian
1640–50; < Latin veterīnāri ( us ) veterinary + -an
Explanation
A veterinarian is a doctor for animals. When it’s time for your dog to get his shots, you take him to the veterinarian. A veterinarian is someone who treats, cures, and prevents diseases in animals. If you want to become a veterinarian, start studying hard! Much like a people doctor, a veterinarian must have formal training before practicing — typically 4 years of veterinary medicine coursework after completing an undergraduate degree. The word veterinarian is often shortened to “vet.” You might look at your dog and say, “Time to go to the vet!”
Vocabulary lists containing veterinarian
Power Suffix: -arian
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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:
Ph.D., senior author, an associate research professor and clinical veterinarian at FAU Harbor Branch.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
California requires that a veterinarian to be present or nearby and on call.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
The dog case was initially linked to Andrews County, Texas, because it was submitted by a veterinarian there.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
In a statement released on Friday, Merlin Entertainments said the announcement came after "months of collaborative work with Freedom for Animals, the Born Free Foundation and PETA, a wild penguin researcher, a veterinarian, and BIAZA".
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
“There’s no point fretting. We’ve got a bona fide veterinarian here.”
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
A team of veterinarians rushed to assist the visibly feeble creature, giving him water before carrying him away on a stretcher.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
“The center is working with several specialist veterinarians to determine the best supportive care for the moment,” the nonprofit wrote in a Facebook post, which racked up more than 120,000 likes within hours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The analysts said that the veterinarians they surveyed filled 11% of prescriptions through Chewy, with companies like PetMed and Vetsource accounting for a smaller share.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Morten Abildstrøm, a Danish Environmental Agency official on the island of Anholt, told daily newspaper Jyllands Posten that the whale would be cut into pieces after veterinarians and researchers had travelled there to take samples.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
In one of the most bizarre aspects of the Volstead Act, veterinarians were also permitted to write out prescriptions for their four-legged patients.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
