psychologist English · revision 39525

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1727, Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary|origins=grc ψυχή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * US: /ˌsaɪˈkɑl.ə.d͡ʒɪst/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|psycho-|-logist]], after [[psychology]];^(OED 2026) other dictionaries simply derive it from ''psychology'' and [[-ist]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) ''Psychology'' is [[der|la-new|psychologia]], probably coined in 16th-century Germany, possibly by Melanchthon, from [[grc|ψυχή|tr=psukhḗ|t=breath, spirit, soul]] and [[m|la|-logia|t=study of]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A philosopher of the soul, or a writer on the soul: 1727, in Nathan Bailey's ''Universal Etymological English Dictionary''.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word followed ''psychology'', which meant the study of the soul when it entered English in 1653 and the study of the mind from 1748.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The psychologist accordingly became a specialist in the science of the mind and of behaviour, and later a practitioner of clinical psychology or counselling.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) From 1896 the word was also used loosely for anyone with, or claiming to have, insight into people's motives,^(OED 2026) a sense the Shorter Oxford labels colloquial.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1653 – ''psychology'', the study of the soul.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1727 – a writer on the soul; later an expert in psychology.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1748 – ''psychology'', the science of the mind.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1896 – a person with insight into human motives.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A specialist in [[psychology]], who studies the mind and [[behaviour]], or treats people with mental or emotional problems: ''She saw a psychologist for her anxiety.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (colloquial) A person who understands, or claims to understand, what makes people act as they do.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alienist]]

+ * [[psychiatrist]]

+ * [[psychology]]

+ * [[psychopathology]]

+ * [[psyche]]

+ * [[psychic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}