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physical

phys·ic·al/ˈfɪz.ɪ.kəl/adjective, noun

physical is spelled P-H-Y-S-I-C-A-L, 3 syllables: phys·ic·al. The wrong spelling people search most is physcial: about 170 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 105 of all searches for the word. Physical is an adjective meaning “Pertaining to the world as understood through the senses rather than the mind, having to do with the material…”.

How many letters and syllables are in physical?

Letters8: P-H-Y-S-I-C-A-L
Syllables3: phys·ic·al
In writing87 times per million words; the 1,223rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched3; the most searched, physcial, about 170 Bing searches a month (all of them)

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell physical?

Physical is spelled P-H-Y-S-I-C-A-L. 3 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 52 of the searches for physical in either form.

physicalthe right spelling17,770 searches a month
physciali and c swapped170 searches a month
phisicali in place of y110 searches a month
phyiscals and i swapped70 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is physical?

Physical appears 87 times per million words in written English, the 1,223rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce physical?

  • US /ˈfɪz.ɪ.kəl/
  • US [ˈfɪz.ɪ.kəl] ~ [ˈfɪz.ɪ.kl̩]

Physical has 3 syllables, split phys·ic·al in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-physical.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of physical

  • more physical comparative
  • most physical superlative
  • physicals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does physical mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    obsoletePertaining to the field of medicine; medical.

  2. 2

    obsoleteThat practises medicine; pertaining to doctors, physicianly.

  3. 3

    obsoleteMedicinal; good for the health, curative, therapeutic.

    Phisicall [translating φαρμακώδεις (pharmakṓdeis)] herbes, as Helleborum, Lingewort, or Beares foote.

  4. 4

    Pertaining to the world as understood through the senses rather than the mind, having to do with the material world.

    It's not so much a physical place as a state of mind.

  5. 5

    In accordance with the laws of nature; now specifically, pertaining to physics.

    The substance has a number of interesting physical properties.

  6. 6

    Denoting a map showing natural features of the landscape (compare political).

  7. 7

    Having to do with the body as opposed to the mind; corporeal, bodily.

    Insults can hurt a lot more than physical injuries.

  8. 8

    Sexual, carnal.

    to get physical

noun

  1. 1

    A physical examination.

    How long has it been since your last physical?

  2. 2

    A physical manifestation of psychic origin, as through ectoplasmic solidification.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate physical?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of physical: phys..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Physical in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchphysique (having to do with the material world; tangible), physiologique (having to do with the body; corporeal), visite médicale, check-up (physical examination)
Germanphysisch, materiell, stofflich (having to do with the material world; tangible), körperlich (having to do with the body; corporeal), physikalisch (having to do with physics)
Portuguesefísico (having to do with the material world; tangible), revisão (physical examination), braçal (involving bodily force; vigorous)
Spanishfísico (having to do with the material world; tangible), revisación (physical examination)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does physical come from?

Borrowed from Late Latin physicālis, from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from φύσις (phúsis, “origin, birth; nature, quality; form, shape; type, kind”), from φῠ́ω (phŭ́ō, “grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after physical