médical French · revision 15848

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1534, Rabelais|origins=la medicus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /me.di.kal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''médical''' (feminine médicale, masculine plural médicaux, feminine plural médicales)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|medicālis|t=healthy; curable]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|6/1, 595b) an altered form of classical [[la|medicīnālis]], the source of [[médicinal]];^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) both go back to [[m|la|medicus|t=physician]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Bloch and Wartburg call it a learned derivative of “medicus”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais (1534) has ''doigt medical'' for the ring finger, an isolated Latinism after Latin ''digitus medicus'' and Late Latin ''digitus medicinalis'', explained by physicians' use of that finger to mix remedies.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word reappears in 1660 (Oudin) meaning “able to cure”, and Rey thinks it, like ''médicalement'' (1606), must have been in use from the early 17th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The sense “relating to medicine” is recorded by Trévoux in 1752, and ''corps médical'' “the medical profession” in 1834.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) ''Médical'' thus displaced ''médicinal'' in most uses, the latter keeping only the sense “having curative properties” (''plantes médicinales'').^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Matière médicale'', the study of remedies, is in Tournefort (1717).^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Recent derivatives include ''médicaliser'' (about 1970) and ''paramédical''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1534 – ''Doigt medical'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1606 – ''Médicalement''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – “Able to cure”, in Oudin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1717 – ''Matière médicale'' in Tournefort.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1752 – “Relating to medicine”, in Trévoux.^(TLFi)

+ * 1834 – ''Corps médical''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1970 – ''Médicaliser''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|medical|alt=Medical]], relating to medicine or doctors: ''études médicales'', ''secret médical'', ''visite médicale''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''Le corps médical'': the medical profession.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Visiteur'' or ''délégué médical'': a pharmaceutical sales representative.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated)'' Able to cure, therapeutic.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[médicalement]]

+ * [[médicaliser]]

+ * [[paramédical]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[médecin]]

+ * [[médecine]]

+ * [[médicinal]]

+ * [[médicament]]

+ * [[la|medicus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}