physic

C2+ Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˈfɪzɪk/ UK /ˈfɪzɪk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a medicine, especially a purgative; the art of healing (archaic)

The doctor prescribed a bitter physic for his fever.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a medicine, especially a... medicine remedy purgative cathartic cure drug

Word family

Derived forms physical physician physics

Related forms physique physiology metaphysics

Etymology

From Old French fisique ('medicine, natural science'), from Latin physica ('study of nature'), from Ancient Greek physike ('natural'), from physis ('nature'), from phuein ('to bring forth, grow').

physis Ancient Greek phuein Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Health & Medicine Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

External links

# physic

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɪzɪk/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɪzɪk/

## Meanings
1. a medicine, especially a purgative; the art of healing (archaic)

## Examples
- The doctor prescribed a bitter physic for his fever.

## Synonyms
- medicine
- remedy
- purgative
- cathartic
- cure
- drug

## Derived Forms
- physical
- physician
- physics

## Related Forms
- physique
- physiology
- metaphysics

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: physis
- Root: phuein

## Etymology
From Old French fisique ('medicine, natural science'), from Latin physica ('study of nature'), from Ancient Greek physike ('natural'), from physis ('nature'), from phuein ('to bring forth, grow').

## AI Etymology
Physic comes from Old French fisique ('medicine, natural science'), from Latin physica ('study of nature'), from Ancient Greek physike ('natural'), from physis ('nature'), from phuein ('to bring forth, grow'). The etymological trail includes Ancient Greek physis and Ancient Greek phuein. As a noun, physic means a medicine, especially a purgative; the art of healing (archaic). The same family is visible in derived forms such as physical, physician, and physics and related forms such as physique, physiology, and metaphysics.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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