Etymology

medical

med·i·cal
M3E1D2I1C3A1L1

Today it means: Of or pertaining to the practice of medicine. Full definition →

French médica ← Medieval Latin medicāli ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
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The story

  1. Latinmedeor
  2. Latinmedicus
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  5. Medieval Latinmedicāli
  6. Frenchmédica
  7. English todaymedical

Borrowed from French médical, from Medieval Latin medicālis, from Latin medicus. Replaced Old English lǣċe (“doctor (physician)”), which is cognate with Icelandic læknir (“doctor”).

Words from the same roots

Latinmedicus all →

maymedicmedicastermetheglin

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.