veterinary

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin veterīnārius (“of or for beasts of burden; as a noun, an animal doctor”),^[2][3][4][5] from veterīnae (“beasts of burden, cattle”) (also neuter veterīna), the plural of veterīnus (“of beasts of burden”), with the suffix that became -ary.^[2][6][5][7] vétérinaire, recorded from 1563, may have helped it into English.^[2][4] The adjective veterīnus is usually taken from vetus (“old”) (stem veter-), though the reason is explained in different ways: an animal old enough to carry loads (Klein, Collins, Dictionary.com), one past other work (Hoad), or, in Skeat, one that has passed its first year, a sense he linked with wether.^{[8][9][7][10][11][5]}

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the medical treatment of animals: the OED's first example is from a 1678 book catalogue;^[2] Etymonline dates the adjective by 1766, Barnhart to 1791 and Merriam-Webster to 1790.^[12][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used of the care of farm and domestic animals, especially horses and cattle,^[2][12][6] and later of animals in general.^[2] Veterinary as a noun, "veterinary medicine", appears once in 1699; as a noun for an animal doctor it is recorded from 1829 in the OED, but only from 1861 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.^[2][4][5] The noun veterinarian is older, from 1646,^[4][10] and the clipped form vet later replaced both in everyday use.^[9]

Timeline

• 1646 – veterinarian.^[4]
• 1678 – adjective: relating to animal medicine.^[2]
• 1699 – noun: veterinary medicine (rare).^[2]
• 1829 – noun: a veterinary surgeon.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to the medicine and surgery of animals, especially domestic and farm animals: a veterinary clinic.

Noun

1. A veterinary surgeon; a veterinarian.

Word family

• nonveterinary
• veterinary surgeon
• veterinary medicine

Related words

• veterinarian
• vet
• veteran
• wether

Usage notes

In British use the professional is a veterinary surgeon, in American use a veterinarian; both are commonly shortened to vet.^[9][6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com