# doctor

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #1,332

## Definitions
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. A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.
6. Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.
7. A fish, the friar skate.
8. A witchdoctor.
9. A ship's cook.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **door** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-door)
- **donor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-donor)
- **doctors** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-doctors)
- **doctor's** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-doctor-s)
- **doctoral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-doctoral)
- **doctored** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doctor-vs-doctored)
- **decor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decor-vs-doctor)
- **debtor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/debtor-vs-doctor)
- **docker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/docker-vs-doctor)

## Common misspellings (9)
`dcotor`, `ddoctor`, `docctor`, `docotr`, `doctorr`, `doctro`, `docttor`, `dotcor`, `odctor`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/doctor