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physics

Etymology and origin of the English word physics

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation, Calque
First attested
1589
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (φύσις)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfɪz.ɪks/[1]

Etymology

It is the plural of physic in its old sense “natural science”,[2][3][4] translating Latin physica (“natural science”), a neuter plural,[3][5] from Ancient Greek τὰ φυσικά (tà phusiká, “the natural things”), the title of Aristotle's treatises on nature,[2][3][5] from φυσικός (phusikós, “of nature”), from φύσις (phúsis, “nature”).[3][5] See -ics.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Natural science in general, especially the Aristotelian system: 1589 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1580s in Etymonline.[6][3][2] NODE and the SOED date it to the late 15th century.[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Before modern science, physics was the science of natural bodies and included all natural science.[2] The present restricted sense, the science of the properties of matter and energy, is from 1715.[6][2][3] In the 17th century it was also rarely used for medicine.[6] Physicist is from 1840, in William Whewell's Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences.[3]

Timeline

  • 1589 – natural science.[6][3]
  • 1626 – medicine (obsolete).[6]
  • 1715 – the science of matter and energy.[6]
  • 1840 – physicist.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The science of matter and energy and how they act on each other, including mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity and magnetism.
  2. The physical properties or processes of something: the physics of flight.

Word family

  • physical
  • physicist
  • physic
  • physician
  • physique

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Physics.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/physics. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·