Why are Medical Doctors called physicians?

Question

It's just as far as i'm aware Chemistry, Biology and Even maths are more commonly used in a medical career than Physics. Does 'Physician' have any connection to the subject 'physics' ??

Answer 1

Physic (no s) is a fairly archaic term with two meanings: 1) the art of medicine and therapeutics, and 2) a cathartic. Until relatively recent times there were few effective medications, and physicians prescribed cathartics for many ailments. So "physician," an authorized practitioner of medicine, derives from both meanings of "physic" although we would prefer the first derivation over the second.

Answer 2

This should help

The word physician shares a common etymology with words such as physics & metaphysics, physical, physique, and physiognomy.

There are many other words that have a meaning similar to, but not exactly the same as, physician.

The word physician comes from an ancient Greek noun φύσις (physis) and its derived adjective physikos, meaning "nature" and "natural". From this, amongst other derivatives came the Vulgar Latin physicus, which meant a doctor of medicine. After the Norman Conquest, the word entered Middle English via Old French fisicien, as early as 1100. Originally, physician meant a practitioner of physic (pronounced with a hard C). This archaic noun had entered Middle English by 1300 (via Old French fisique). Physic meant the art or science of treatment with drugs or medications (as opposed to surgery), and was later used both as a verb and also to describe the medications themselves.[1][2][3]

In English, there have been many synonyms for physician, both old and new, with some semantic variation. The noun phrase medical practitioner is perhaps the most widely understood and neutral synonym. Medical practitioner is lengthy but inclusive: it covers both medical specialists and general practitioners (family physician, family practitioner), and historically would include physicians (in the narrow sense), surgeons or apothecaries. In England, apothecaries historically included those who now would be called general practitioners and pharmacists.

The term doctor (medical doctor) is older and shorter (see doctor of medicine), but can be confused with holders of other academic doctorates. Doctor (gen.: doctoris) means teacher in Latin and is an agentive noun derived from the verb docere ('teach').[4] In French, médecin (doctor, physician) is a contraction of docteur médecin, a direct equivalent of doctor of medicine. In current French idiom, the term toubib, is now a synonym, derived from Arabic طبيب (tabīb, physician).

The Greek word ἰατρός (iatros, doctor or healer) is often translated as physician. Ἱατρός is not preserved directly in English, but occurs in such formations as psychiatrist (translates from Greek as healer of the soul), podiatrist (foot healer), and iatrogenic disease (a disease caused by medical treatment). In Latin, medicus meant much what physician or doctor does now. Compare these translations of a well-known proverb (the nouns are in vocative case):

Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν (Greek New Testament: Luke, 4:23)

Medice, cura tiepsum (from the Vulgate, early 5th century)

Physician, heal thyself (from the Authorized King James Version, 1611)

The ancient Romans also had the word archiater, for court physician. Archiater derives from the ancient Greek ἀρχιατρός (from ἄρχω + ἰατρός, chief healer). By contraction, this title has given modern German its word for physician: arzt.

Leech and leechcraft are archaic English words respectively for doctor and medicine.[1] The Old English word for "physician", læċe, which is related to Old High German lāhhi and Old Irish liaig, may live on as the modern English word leech, as these particular creatures were formerly much used by the medical profession. Cognate forms for leech exist in modern Swedish as läkare, in modern Norwegian as lege and in Finnish as lääkäri; these Scandinavian words still translate as doctor or physician rather than as a blood-sucking parasite.

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Answer 3

a physician does not connest 2 physics. they are called a physician because they work with the "physical" characteristics of the body