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physical

Etymology and origin of the English word physical

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
before 1425
Borrowed from
Latin physicalis via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (φύσις)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfɪz.ɪ.kəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English phisicale (“medical”),[2][3] borrowed from Medieval Latin physicālis (“of nature, natural; medicinal”),[4][2] from Latin physica (“the study of nature”),[4][2] from Greek Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), from φύσις (phúsis, “nature”), the source of physic.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Medical”, as distinguished from surgical: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie,[2] the early 15th century;[4] this sense is now obsolete.[5]

Semantic evolution

The meaning “relating to natural science, according to the laws of nature” is from 1580,[2][6] and “pertaining to matter, material”, perceived by the senses, from 1597, in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity.[2][6][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as “relating to nature or to natural philosophy; not moral”.[7] The sense “having to do with the body, bodily”, as opposed to mental or moral, is first attested in 1780, in Bentham.[2][4][6] “Bodily aggressive or violent”, as in the game got physical, is from 1970.[4][6] Physical education is recorded from 1838 and phys ed by 1955,[4][2] and physical therapy from 1922.[2][4] The noun, short for physical examination, is from 1934.[4][6]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – medical.[2]
  • 1580 – of natural science.[2][6]
  • 1597 – material.[2][6]
  • 1780 – bodily.[2][6]
  • 1838 – physical education.[4][2]
  • 1922 – physical therapy.[2]
  • 1934 – noun, a medical examination.[4][6]
  • 1970 – bodily aggressive.[4][6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of the body rather than the mind or spirit.
  2. Involving vigorous bodily activity or contact; rough or violent.
  3. Of material things; that can be seen or touched.
  4. Of matter and energy, or of physics and the other natural sciences.
  5. (informal) Sexual: physical attraction.

Noun

  1. A medical examination to check a person's health.

Word family

  • physicality
  • physically
  • physicalness
  • metaphysical
  • physician
  • physics
  • physic
  • physique
  • physiology

Usage notes

In older Scots physical meant “medical, of drugs”.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ 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)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Physical.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/physical. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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