Meanings
alternative obsolete physicks
- pluralplural onlyuncountableThe branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy.
Newtonian physics was extended by Einstein to explain the effects of travelling near the speed of light; quantum physics extends it to account for the behaviour of atoms.
3 more examples
An analysis of media reports can correspondingly cast some light not only on how much physics is being reported, but on what branches of physics attract most popular attention.
1994, A.J Meadows, M.M Hancock-Beaulieu, editors, Front Page Physics: A Century of Physics in the News, page 3The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.
2012 March 28, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146Daniel Hajas is a physics undergraduate at Sussex and has been blind since he was 16. He first heard about Giles and the SSDs when Giles was looking for blind students to test the devices.
2017 October 10, Vanessa Potter, “My sudden synesthesia: how I went blind and started hearing colors”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025 - pluralplural onlyuncountableThe physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those examined or studied scientifically.
The physics of car crashes would not let Tom Cruise walk away like that.
1 more example
An analysis of media reports can correspondingly cast some light not only on how much physics is being reported, but on what branches of physics attract most popular attention.
1994, A.J Meadows, M.M Hancock-Beaulieu, editors, Front Page Physics: A Century of Physics in the News, page 3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe science of matter and energy and their interactions
nounthe physical properties, phenomena, and laws of something
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-“to appear, become, rise up”
- Ancient Greekφύω“produce; bear; grow”
- Ancient Greekφύσις“origin; nature, property”
- Ancient Greekφυσική
- Latinphysica“study of nature”
- Old Frenchfisike“natural science, art of healing”
- Middle Englishphisik
- Englishphysics
1580s; from physic (see also -ics), from Middle English phisik, from Old French fisike (“natural science, art of healing”), from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from Ancient Greek φύσις (phúsis, “origin; nature, property”), from Ancient Greek φύω (phúō, “produce; bear; grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans fisika
- fisikabranch of science
Arabic فِيزِيَاء, فِيزِيقَا
- فِيزِيَاء (fīziyāʔ)branch of science
- فِيزِيقَا (fīzīqā)branch of science
Basque fisika
- fisikabranch of science
Bengali পদার্থবিজ্ঞান, পদার্থবিদ্যা
- পদার্থবিজ্ঞান (podarthobiggên)branch of science
- পদার্থবিদ্যা (podarthobidda)branch of science
Bulgarian фи́зика
- фи́зика (fízika)branch of science
Catalan física
- físicabranch of science
Chinese Cantonese 物理學 /物理学
- 物理學 /物理学 (mat⁶ lei⁵ hok⁶)branch of science
Chinese Mandarin 物理學 /物理学
- 物理學 /物理学 (wùlǐxué)branch of science
Czech fyzika
- fyzikabranch of science
Danish fysik
- fysikbranch of science
Dutch natuurkunde, fysica
- natuurkundebranch of science
- fysicabranch of science
Esperanto fiziko
- fizikobranch of science
Estonian füüsika
- füüsikabranch of science
Finnish fysiikka
- fysiikkabranch of science
French physique
- physiquebranch of science
German Physik
- Physikbranch of science
Greek φυσική
- φυσική (fysikí)branch of science
Hebrew פִֿיזִיקָה
- פִֿיזִיקָה (fizika)branch of science
Hindi भौतिक शास्त्र, भौतिकी
- भौतिक शास्त्र (bhautik śāstra)branch of science
- भौतिकी (bhautikī)branch of science
Hungarian fizika
- fizikabranch of science
Icelandic eðlisfræði
- eðlisfræðibranch of science
Indonesian fisika
- fisikabranch of science
Irish fisic
- fisicbranch of science
Italian fisica
- fisicabranch of science
Japanese 物理学
- 物理学 (butsurigaku)branch of science
Korean 물리학, 물리
- 물리학 (mullihak)branch of science
- 물리 (mulli)branch of science
Latin physica
- physicabranch of science
Latvian fizika
- fizikabranch of science
Lithuanian fizika
- fizikabranch of science
Malay fizik
- fizikbranch of science
Māori mātai ahupūngao
- mātai ahupūngaobranch of science
Norwegian Bokmål fysikk
- fysikkbranch of science
Persian فیزیک
- فیزیک (fizik)branch of science
Polish fizyka
- fizykabranch of science
Portuguese física
- físicabranch of science
Punjabi ਭੌਤਿਕ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ
- ਭੌਤਿਕ ਵਿਗਿਆਨ (bhautik vigiāna)branch of science
Romanian fizică
- fizicăbranch of science
Russian фи́зика
- фи́зика (fízika)branch of science
Slovak fyzika
- fyzikabranch of science
Spanish física
- físicabranch of science
Swahili fizikia
- fizikiabranch of science
Swedish fysik
- fysikbranch of science
Tagalog pisika, liknayan
- pisikabranch of science
- liknayanbranch of science
- sugnayanbranch of science
Tamil இயற்பியல், பௌதிகம்
- இயற்பியல் (iyaṟpiyal)branch of science
- பௌதிகம் (pautikam)branch of science
Thai ฟิสิกส์
- ฟิสิกส์ (fí-sìk)branch of science
Turkish fizik, doğam (doğa kuramı)
- fizikbranch of science
- doğam (doğa kuramı)branch of science
Ukrainian фі́зика
- фі́зика (fízyka)branch of science
Urdu طبیعیات
- طبیعیات (tabī'iyyāt)branch of science
Vietnamese vật lý học
- vật lý họcbranch of science
Welsh ffiseg
- ffisegbranch of science
Yiddish פֿיזיק
- פֿיזיק (fizik)branch of science
Cite this entry
physics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/physics
“physics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/physics. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “physics,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/physics.
Source: physics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.