medico Italian · revision 37924

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1231–1232, Sienese tax register|origins=la medeor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛ.di.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''medico''' (feminine medica, masculine plural medici, feminine plural mediche)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include [[roa-oit|medicho]], [[roa-oit|medeco]] and [[roa-oit|medego]].^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|medicus|t=physician; healing]], from [[m|la|medeor|t=to heal, cure]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary takes it as inherited, but Körting and Meyer-Lübke count the Italian form as learned, beside popular outcomes such as [[vec|miedego]], [[lij|megu]], [[sc|meigu]], [[fro|miege]] and [[pro|metge]].^(Wiktionary)^(Körting 1907)^(REW 1935) [[es|médico]] is also learned, while French replaced the inherited Old French forms with [[fr|médecin]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ The Latin verb has relatives across the Indo-European languages: Nocentini and Devoto trace it to a root [[ine-pro|*med-|t=to think, judge, measure]], which also gave [[m|la|meditor|t=to reflect]], [[m|la|modus|t=measure]] and [[de|messen|t=to measure]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968)^(DELI 1999) Devoto notes that the medical sense survives only in Latin and Iranian.^(Devoto 1968) Wiktionary reports that Prósper, finding that [[m|la|-icus]] does not usually attach to verb stems, explains the Latin noun as a thematic form of [[itc-pro|*meddiks]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the form ''medicho'' in a tax register of Siena of 1231–1232, for a person qualified to practise medicine.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294) already uses it figuratively for one who comforts the spirit: “Medico che sana è da gradire” (a healing doctor is welcome).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|9)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective “medical” is recorded from Tasso in 1583, and “healing, curative” in 1581.^(DELI 1999) ''Medico condotto'', a doctor paid by a town to treat its residents, appears in 1825;^(DELI 1999) ''condotto'' keeps its old sense “hired”.^(DELI 1999) The modern profession gave ''medico di base'' or ''di famiglia'' (general practitioner), ''medico legale'' (forensic doctor) and ''medico fiscale'', who checks the sick leave of employees.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ The family is old: ''medicina'' is recorded before 1294 in Brunetto Latini, ''medicare'' in Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' (1348–1353) and the scornful ''medicastro'' “quack” in Aretino (1534).^(DELI 1999) English took ''medico'' in 1689 as an informal word for a doctor or medical student.^(DIFIT)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1231–1232 – ''Medicho'' appears in a Sienese tax register.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the word for one who consoles the spirit.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – ''Medicina'' appears in Brunetto Latini.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1534 – Aretino uses ''medicastro''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1581–1583 – Tasso uses ''medico'' as an adjective, “curative” and “medical”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1689 – English ''medico'' is recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * 1825 – ''Medico condotto'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|doctor]], [[m|en|physician]]: ''Domani vado dal medico per gli esami.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone who relieves another's pain or sorrow.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|remedy]] for physical or moral ills: ''Il mare è stato il suo medico.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|medical]], relating to medicine or doctors: ''una visita medica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(uncommon)'' Healing, curative.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[medicina]]

+ * [[medicinale]]

+ * [[medicare]]

+ * [[medicamento]]

+ * [[medicazione]]

+ * [[medicastro]]

+ * [[medichessa]]

+ * [[paramedico]]

+ * [[protomedico]]

+ * [[medicale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[meditare]]

+ * [[modo]]

+ * [[rimedio]]

+ * [[la|medicus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The masculine is often used of a woman;^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) ''medica'' is uncommon and ''medichessa'' is scornful.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) A separate learned adjective ''medico'' “of Media, Persian” comes from [[la|Medicus]] and [[grc|Μηδικός|tr=Mēdikós]]: it survives in ''guerre mediche'', the Persian Wars, and ''erba medica'', alfalfa.^(Treccani 2011)^(GDLI|9) An obsolete ''medico'' “of the Medici family” also occurs in Florentine writers.^(GDLI|9)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}