veterinary

[ vet-er-uh-ner-ee, ve-truh- ]

/ ˈvɛt ər əˌnɛr i, ˈvɛ trə- /

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noun, plural vet·er·i·nar·ies.

a veterinarian.

adjective

of or relating to the medical and surgical treatment of animals, especially domesticated animals.

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Origin of veterinary

1780–90; <Latin veterīnārius, equivalent to veterīn(ae) beasts of burden (noun use of feminine plural of veterīnus pertaining to such beasts, equivalent to veter-, stem of vetus old, i.e., grown, able to take a load + -īnus-ine¹) + -ārius-ary

OTHER WORDS FROM veterinary

non·vet·er·i·nar·y, adjective, noun, plural non·vet·er·i·nar·ies.

Words nearby veterinary

Veterans Administration, Veterans Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, veterinarian, veterinary, veterinary medicine, veterinary surgeon, veterinary technician, vetiver, vetivert

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use veterinary in a sentence

She wore heavy personal protective equipment to work at a veterinary clinic, despite the worries of some of her colleagues that she would scare off clients.
New COVID studies bring some holiday cheer for pregnant women|jakemeth|December 23, 2020|Fortune
With a positive result, we’d have to make tough choices based on the practicality of isolating an infected animal, the perceived danger of keeping an infected pet at home and any need for veterinary care.
The Coming Petdemic|Tracy Moran|December 22, 2020|Ozy
Leonelli, for her part, now makes her money working for a friend’s veterinary pharmacy because it’s a cash-based business.
A New Model to End the Misery of Pharmacies|Eugene Robinson|December 20, 2020|Ozy
Of 30,000 dead camels that Wernery, a veterinary microbiologist at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, and his team have examined since 2008, 300 had guts packed with plastic ranging from three to 64 kilograms.
Plastic waste forms huge, deadly masses in camel guts|Asher Jones|December 15, 2020|Science News

The FDA considers alterations to an animal’s genome to be just like a veterinary drug.
What’s on the GMO menu: fast-growing salmon and slow-swimming tuna|Katie McLean|December 11, 2020|MIT Technology Review
You should, according to Dr. Jeff Werber, Founder and Veterinarian at the Century Veterinary Group in Los Angeles.
Fitness Gadgets … for Your Dog|Megan Humphreys|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And the medical journal in which he describes the case is the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine Association.
Prescribing Pot for Pet Pain|Miranda Green|November 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Animals were often left in the back "sick room" with little if any veterinary care.
13 Revelations From Reddit’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’ Thread Exposing Alleged Industry Secrets|Nina Strochlic|August 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
My next book project goes back to my lifelong interests in animals, veterinary medicine, science, and ethics.
Rebecca Skloot: How I Write|Noah Charney|March 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They stormed into law, medical, and veterinary schools, and female undergraduate enrollment surged.
The Truth About Title IX|Karen Blumenthal|June 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Doctor Baker was away, and in despair they had routed Mr. Dean out of bed—the pale young man who was studying to be a veterinary.
The Woman Gives|Owen Johnson
One of the Ipswich characters of my boyhood, of whom Mr. Glyde has preserved an anecdote, was old Tuxford, the veterinary surgeon.
East Anglia|J. Ewing Ritchie
The veterinary was here when Rags died, which was within fifteen minutes of the first spasm.
Average Jones|Samuel Hopkins Adams
The first veterinary school in France had been founded at Lyons in 1762.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3)|John Morley
Was it invented by some fanciful traveller-horseman hindered on his way to Rome or Athens, by a saddler or a veterinary surgeon?
Ocean to Ocean on Horseback|Willard Glazier

British Dictionary definitions for veterinary

veterinary

/ (ˈvɛtərɪnərɪ, ˈvɛtrɪnrɪ) /

adjective

of or relating to veterinary medicine

Word Origin for veterinary

C18: from Latin veterīnārius concerning draught animals, from veterīnae draught animals; related to vetus mature (hence able to bear a burden)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012