medicine English · revision 3745

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1225|origins=la medicus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmed.sᵊn/, US /ˈmed.ɪ.sᵊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|medecine]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|medecine|t=medicine, art of healing, cure]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly [[der|la|medicīna|t=the healing art; a remedy]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps originally ars medicīna “the medical art”, from the feminine of [[m|la|medicīnus|t=of a doctor]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[m|la|medicus|t=physician]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*med-|t=to take appropriate measures]].^(Etymonline) The OED finds the evidence for the ars medicīna path wanting and derives it directly from medicus.^(Etymonline) Medicus is formed from [[m|la|medērī|t=to heal]], first “to know the best course for”.^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[medical]], [[remedy]] and [[medicate]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A medicinal substance and the art of healing: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline dates it to about 1200 as medical treatment or cure.^(Etymonline) The OED dates a substance used in treatment to before 1225, and the science of medicine to about 1320.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Spiritual remedies were also called medicine,^(Etymonline) and in the 14th and 15th centuries the word was often applied to Christ or the Virgin Mary.^(OED 1989) It was used of drugs for purposes other than healing, such as the philosopher's stone of the alchemists, from about 1400.^(OED 1989) The practice of treating disease in humans, as distinct from surgery, is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) From 1805 it rendered the words of North American Indians for magical power,^(OED 1989) hence the [[medicine man]], from 1801 in American English.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Take one's medicine'' is from 1865,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) a ''dose of one's own medicine'' from 1894, and the ''medicine ball'' from 1889.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – healing; a remedy.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1320 – the science of medicine.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1384 – ''medicinal''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – a drug for alchemy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1801 – ''medicine man''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1865 – ''take one's medicine''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – ''medicine ball''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The science of [[diagnosis|alt=diagnosing]], treating and preventing disease.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The branch of this science that treats by drugs and diet rather than [[surgery]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The [[medical]] profession.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A substance used to treat illness; a [[drug]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Among some Native American peoples, an object or ritual believed to give supernatural power.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[biomedicine]]

+ * [[aeromedicine]]

+ * [[antimedicine]]

+ * [[ethnomedicine]]

+ * [[geomedicine]]

+ * [[telemedicine]]

+ * [[medicine ball]]

+ * [[medicine dance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[medic]]

+ * [[medical]]

+ * [[medicament]]

+ * [[medication]]

+ * [[medicate]]

+ * [[medicinal]]

+ * [[remedy]]

+ * [[meditate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}