physician

plural physicians · alternative obsolete phisician · alternative obsolete phisitian · alternative obsolete physitian

1. A practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon; a practitioner who treats with medication rather than with surgery.

   The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates promoted wine for various purposes, including reducing fevers and dressing wounds.

   2022 January 22, Jonathan Reiner, “If you think that glass of wine is good for you, it’s time to reconsider”, in CNN

   2 more examples

   His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill;[…].

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   In 2009, the Obama Administration released guidelines on enhanced interrogation written in 2003 and 2004 by the CIA Office of Medical Services. ^((OMS).1-3(appendix F)) The OMS guidelines, even in redacted form, and opinions from the US Department of Justice's (DOJ’s) Office of Legal Counsel show that CIA physicians, psychologists, and other health care personnel had important roles in enhanced interrogation.

   2010 August 4, Leonard S. Rubenstein, JD; Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, “The Ethics of Enhanced Interrogations and Torture: A Reappraisal of the Argument”, in JAMA, volume 304, number 5, American Medical Association, →DOI, pages 569–570

2. A medical doctor trained in human medicine.

   The doctor had to go to London for a physician to take charge of his practice[…].

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

   Synonyms: doctor