physic

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fisike, also phisik,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French fisique (“medical science, natural science”), also phisike,^{[6][3][7][8][9]} and directly borrowed from Latin physica (“natural science”),^[6][4][3] the feminine of physicus (“natural”) used as a noun,^[6][4] after Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), short for a phrase with ἐπιστήμη (epistḗmē, “knowledge”), knowledge of nature.^[6][10][9] That is the feminine of φυσικός (phusikós, “of nature, natural”),^[6][2][9] from φύσις (phúsis, “nature”),^[6][2][9][4] and Etymonline traces it through φύειν (phúein, “to bring forth, produce”)^[4][10] to Proto-Indo-European *bheue- (“to be, exist, grow”).^[4][7] The OED separates the sense "remedy", which it takes first from Anglo-Norman fisike (“remedy”), recorded in 1212, and Late Latin physicum (“remedy”), the neuter of the same adjective, later reinforced by the other senses.^[6] The Anglo-Norman word for the art of medicine is recorded from the mid-12th century.^[11][6] The spelling with “ph-” is attested from the late 14th century.^[4] The verb is formed from the noun,^[6][8] and the adjective comes directly from the same Latin adjective.^[6][12] Physics has its own history, rendering the Latin neuter plural of the same form and, behind it, the Greek title of Aristotle's physical treatises.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A healing potion or medicine: c. 1325, in the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, perhaps from about 1300,^[6] which is the date in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[4][3] Barnhart also notes an isolated use as a proper name, Fisikus, in 1221.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Greek source meant the study of nature,^[4][9] and English took over both that sense and the later one, medicine.^[6] Weekley thought the healing sense grew out of a familiarity with bodily processes.^[10] Medieval Latin had the medical sense from the 12th century,^[6] and in Anglo-Norman the word meant both medicine and natural science.^[11] In Middle English it soon covered healthy habits (1340), medical treatment (about 1385, in Chaucer), the art of healing (before 1387) and the science of the body (Chaucer's General Prologue), and also physicians as a group, in Piers Plowman.^[6] The sense of natural science is recorded from about 1330 to 1883,^[6][3] and it passed to physics.^[2][6] The medicinal sense narrowed: a laxative is recorded from the 1610s in Etymonline, and Barnhart has 1617.^[4][3] Physic is now historical in that sense and archaic in the others.^[6] The verb, in Piers Plowman from about 1400, means to dose with medicine and is now colloquial.^[6][8] London street sellers called rhubarb physic-pie when it was first introduced.^[13] Slang gave physic the sense of sexual intercourse, in Massinger (1623),^[14] and the verb, to punish or strip of money, in Egan's Life in London (1821).^[14][6]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – a medicine or remedy.^[6] Etymonline and Barnhart date it to about 1300.^[4][3]
• c. 1330 – natural science (obsolete by 1883).^[6][3]
• 1340 – a healthy practice or habit (obsolete by 1700).^[6]
• c. 1385 – medical treatment, in Chaucer's Knight's Tale (obsolete by 1703).^[6]
• before 1387 – the art of healing; the medical profession, in Trevisa.^[6]
• c. 1387 – the science of the body and its diseases, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.^[6]
• before 1393 – a moral or spiritual remedy, in Gower.^[6]
• c. 1400 – verb, to dose with medicine, in Piers Plowman.^[6]
• c. 1425 – adjective, medical (obsolete by 1819).^[6][12]
• 1563 – adjective, physical, natural (obsolete by 1820).^[6]
• 1589 – verb, figurative, to relieve or remedy, in Nashe.^[6]
• 1610s – a laxative.^[4] Barnhart has 1617.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rare) A medicine, especially a purgative or cathartic: The doctor sent round a dose of physic.^[15][6]
2. (archaic) The art of healing; the medical profession.^[15][6]
3. (archaic) The science of the body and its diseases; medical science.^[6][8]
4. (archaic) A mental or moral remedy.^[6]
5. (obsolete, c. 1330–1883) Natural science; physics.^[15][6][8]

Verb

1. To treat with medicine, especially a laxative; to purge: She physicked the horse before the journey.^[5][6][15]
2. To relieve or heal.^[5][6][8]

Adjective

1. (obsolete, c. 1425–1819) Medical; medicinal.^[5][6][8]
2. (obsolete, 1563–1820) Natural; physical.^[5][6][8]

Word family

• physician
• physic nut

Related words

• physics
• physical
• physique
• physicist
• metaphysics
• physio-
• be

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins