doctor

Meaning

Noun

1. A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick or injured. The final examination and qualification may award a doctor degree in which case the post-nominal letters are DO, DPM, MD, DMD, or DDS in the US, or MBBS or BDS in the UK.
2. A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D. or Th.D. or one of many other terminal degrees conferred by a college or university.
3. A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.
4. A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.
5. (obsolete) A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.
6. (dated) Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.
7. A fish, the friar skate.
8. (obsolete, slang) A ship's cook.

Verb

1. (transitive) To act as a medical doctor to.
2. (humorous, intransitive) To act as a medical doctor.
3. (transitive) To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.
4. (transitive) To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.
5. (transitive) To genetically alter an extant species.
6. (figuratively, transitive) To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.
7. (transitive) To adulterate, drug, or poison (drink).
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To take medicine.

Synonyms

physician

healer

nurse

medicine man

medico

surgeon

treat

medic

cure

medical doctor

repair

doc

Dr.

doctor up

give medicine to

teacher

🧑‍🏫

touch on

medical practitioner

medical man

practitioner

fix

doctorate

mend

sorcerer

restore

heal

physican

shaman

medical

sophisticate

attend

dress a wound

chemist

MD

furbish up

PhD

clever man

juggle

remedy

bushel

general practitioner

garble

master

medicate

vet

falsify

fake

dresser

clinic

carry on

Translations

médecin

docteur

🧑‍⚕️

médico

🧑‍⚕️

doctor

🧑‍⚕️

dottore

🧑‍⚕️

medico

Arzt

🧑‍⚕️

médico

🧑‍⚕️

medicus

dokter

🧑‍⚕️

arts

Doktor

🧑‍⚕️

γιατρός

doutor

🧑‍⚕️

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈdɒktə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English:

Cognate with Middle English: lerare

Cognate with Middle English: leren

Cognate with Old English: læran

Cognate with Old English: lārēow

Cognate with Old English: lǣċe

In summary

From Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). Displaced native Middle English lerare (“doctor, teacher”) (from Middle English leren (“to teach, instruct”) from Old English lǣran, lēran (“to teach, instruct, guide”), compare Old English lārēow (“teacher, master”)). Displaced Old English lǣċe (“doctor, physician”).