• Doctor

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ˈdÉ’k.tÉ™/
    • US IPA: /ˈdÉ‘k.tÉš/

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English doctor, doctour ("an expert, authority on a subject"), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor ("teacher"), from doceō ("I 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")).

    Full definition of doctor

    Noun

    doctor

    (plural doctors)
    1. A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick. The final examination and qualification may award a doctor degree in which case the post-nominal letters are Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, DPM, , DMD, DDS, DPT, DC, in the US or MBBS in the UK.If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor.
      • ShakespeareBy medicine life may be prolonged, yet death
        Will seize the doctor too.
    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 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.
      • Francis Baconone of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel
    6. (dated) Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.the doctor of a calico-printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous colouring matterthe doctor, or auxiliary engine, also called "donkey engine"
      • 2010, Ramesh Bangia, Dictionary of Information Technology (page 172)The use of a disk doctor may be the only way of recovering valuable data following a disk crash.
    7. A fish, the friar skate.

    Usage notes

    Doctor is capitalized when used as a title:

    Doctor Smith

    Synonyms

    Related terms

    types of academic doctor
    • Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (D.A.O.M.)
    • Doctor of Arts (D.A.)
    • Doctor of Architecture (D.Arch.)
    • Doctor of Applied Science (D.A.S.)
    • Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
    • Doctor of Chemistry (D.Chem.)
    • Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.)
    • Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.)
    • Doctor of Criminal Justice (D.C.J.)
    • Doctor of Comparative/Civil Law (D.C.L.)
    • Doctor of Computer Science (D.C.S.)
    • Doctor of Criminology (D.Crim.)
    • Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.)
    • Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.)
    • Doctor of Design (Dr.DES.)
    • Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
    • Doctor of Environmental Design (D.E.D.)
    • Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.)
    • Doctor of Environment (D.Env.)
    • Doctor of Engineering Science (D.E.Sc./Sc.D.E.)
    • Doctor of Forestry (D.F.)
    • Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.)
    • Doctor of Geological Science (D.G.S.)
    • Doctor of Hebrew Literature/Letters (D.H.L.)
    • Doctor of Health and Safety (D.H.S.)
    • Doctor of Hebrew Studies (D.H.S.)
    • Doctor of Industrial Technology (D.I.T.)
    • Doctor of Information Technology (D.I.T.)
    • Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.)
    • Doctor of Library Science (D.L.S.)
    • Doctor of Music (D.M.)
    • Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A., A.Mus.D.)
    • Doctor of Musical Education (D.M.E.)
    • Doctor of Ministry (D.Min./D.M.)
    • Doctor of Modern Languages (D.M.L.)
    • Doctor of Music Ministry (D.M.M.)
    • Doctor of Medical Science (D.M.Sc.)
    • Doctor of Nursing Science (D.N.Sc.)
    • Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.)
    • Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)
    • Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.)
    • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
    • Doctor of Physical Education (D.P.E.)
    • Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.)
    • Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (D.P.M.)
    • Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)
    • Doctor of Public Health (D.P.H.)
    • Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.)
    • Doctor of Religious Education (D.R.E.)
    • Doctor of Recreation (D.Rec./D.R.)
    • Doctor of Science (D.Sc./Sc.D.)
    • Doctor of Science in Dentistry (D.Sc.D.)
    • Doctor of Science and Hygiene (D.Sc.H.)
    • Doctor of Science in Veterinary Medicine (D.Sc.V.M.)
    • Doctor of Sacred Music (D.S.M.)
    • Doctor of Social Science (D.S.Sc.)
    • Doctor of Social Work (D.S.W.)
    • Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.)
    • Doctor of the Science of Law (L.Sc.D.)
    • Doctor of Rehabilitation (Rh.D.)
    • Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.)
    • Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
    • Doctor of Technology (D.Tech.)
    • Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)
    • Doctor of the University (D.Univ)
    • Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or Veterinary Medical Doctor (D.V.M./V.M.D)
    • Divinitatis Doctor, Doctor of Divinity (D.D.)
    • Juris Doctor, Doctor of Law (J.D.)
    • Optometry Doctor, Doctor of Optometry (O.D.)
    • Legum Doctor, Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
    • Literarum Doctor, Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.)
    • Medicine Doctor, Doctor of Medicine (M.D./D.M.)
    • Music Doctor, Doctor of Music (D.Mus.)

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To act as a medical doctor to.Her children doctored her back to health.
    2. (transitive) To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.
    3. (transitive) To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.They doctored their apple trees by vigorous pruning, and now the dwarfed trees are easier to pick.We may legally doctor a pet to reduce its libido.
    4. (transitive) To genetically alter an extant species.''Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored.
    5. (transitive) To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.
    © Wiktionary