medicine

[ med-uh-sin or, especially British, med-suhn ]
See synonyms for medicine on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.

  2. the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operations or appliances, or manipulations: often divided into medicine proper, surgery, and obstetrics.

  1. the art or science of treating disease with drugs or curative substances, as distinguished from surgery and obstetrics.

  2. the medical profession.

  3. (among North American Indians) any object or practice regarded as having magical powers.

verb (used with object),med·i·cined, med·i·cin·ing.
  1. to administer medicine to.

Idioms about medicine

  1. give someone a dose / taste of his / her own medicine, to repay or punish a person for an injury by use of the offender's own methods.

  2. take one's medicine, to undergo or accept punishment, especially deserved punishment: He took his medicine like a man.

Origin of medicine

1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English medicin, from Latin medicīna (ars) “healing (art),” feminine of medicīnus “pertaining to a physician,” from medic(us) “physician” (cf. medical) + -īnus -ine1

Other words for medicine

Other words from medicine

  • an·ti·med·i·cine, adjective
  • su·per·med·i·cine, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for medicine

medicine

/ (ˈmɛdɪsɪn, ˈmɛdsɪn) /


noun
  1. any drug or remedy for use in treating, preventing, or alleviating the symptoms of disease

  2. the science of preventing, diagnosing, alleviating, or curing disease

  1. any nonsurgical branch of medical science

  2. the practice or profession of medicine: he's in medicine Related adjectives: Aesculapian, iatric

  3. something regarded by primitive people as having magical or remedial properties

  4. take one's medicine to accept a deserved punishment

  5. a taste of one's own medicine or a dose of one's own medicine an unpleasant experience in retaliation for and by similar methods to an unkind or aggressive act

Origin of medicine

1
C13: via Old French from Latin medicīna (ars) (art of) healing, from medicus doctor, from medērī to heal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for medicine

medicine

[ mĕdĭ-sĭn ]


  1. The scientific study or practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases or disorders of the body or mind of a person or animal.

  2. An agent, such as a drug, used to treat disease or injury.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with medicine

medicine

see dose of one's own medicine; take one's medicine.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.