médecin French · revision 17196

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=back-formation|attested=14th century, Hugues Capet (medechin)|origins=la medeor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /med.sɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mɛd.sɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''médecin''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural médecins)^(Wiktionary)

+ Picard ''medechin'' (14th century), ''medicin'' (1458), ''medecin'' (about 1480); the Académie wrote ''me-'' in 1694 and 1718, ''mé-'' from 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The TLFi takes it as probably a back-formation from [[médeciner]] “to treat medically”, also “mediciner” in the old language, Wiktionary agrees.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) The Grand Robert, the GLLF and the Petit Robert derive it from [[médecine]], which goes back to [[la|medicīna]], from [[m|la|medicus|t=physician]], from [[m|la|medeor|t=to heal]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(FEW|6/1, 602b) Littré instead took it from a Latin “medicīnus”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ It drove out Old French [[m|fro|mire]], chiefly Norman and Picard, and the dialect forms “mie” and “mege”, from [[m|la|medicus]], “mège” survives in some dialects for a healer without a diploma.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the Picard form ''medechin'' in the ''chanson de geste'' ''Hugues Capet'' (14th century), meaning one who practises medicine.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the end of the 14th century Eustache Deschamps used it figuratively of a thing that heals like a doctor.^(TLFi) Pascal calls a person who heals moral suffering a ''médecin'' (1656), and Richelet records ''médecin des âmes'' (1680).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Furetière (1690) has the ''médecin de quartier'', who attended a sovereign for a quarter of the year, and the ''médecin consultant''; the ''premier médecin'' of a prince is in Mme de Sévigné (1679).^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF) ''Médecin-major'' (1825), ''médecin de campagne'' (Balzac, 1833) and ''médecin traitant'' (1872) followed.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 14th century – ''Medechin'', ''Hugues Capet''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – Figurative use, Eustache Deschamps.^(TLFi)

+ * 1458 – ''Medicin''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1480 – ''Medecin''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1656 – A healer of the soul, Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – ''Mire'' last recorded, by Oudin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Médecin consultant'', Furetière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1825 – ''Médecin-major''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|doctor]], [[m|en|physician]]: ''aller chez le médecin'', ''médecin de famille'', ''médecin traitant'', ''médecin généraliste'', ''spécialiste''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Médecin légiste'': a forensic pathologist, ''médecin du travail'', an occupational physician.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(figurative)'' One who heals moral ills: ''médecin des âmes''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[médecine]]

+ * [[médeciner]]

+ * [[médical]]

+ * [[médicament]]

+ * [[la|medicus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The noun is masculine in form; for a woman one says ''une femme médecin'' or ''elle est médecin''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}