# physician

> English word · Noun · IPA /fəˈzɪʃən/ · frequency rank #5,347

## Definitions
1. A practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon; a practitioner who treats with medication rather than with surgery.
2. A medical doctor trained in human medicine.

## Etymology
From Middle English fisicien, from Old French fisicïen (“physician”) (modern French physicien (“physicist”)), from fisique (“art of healing”), from Latin physica (“natural science”), from Ancient Greek φυσική ἐπιστήμη (phusikḗ epistḗmē, “knowledge of nature”), from φυσικός (phusikós, “pertaining to nature”). Displaced native Middle English læche, leche, archaic English leech (“physician”). Morphologically physic + -ian.

## Easily confused with
- **physicist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/physician-vs-physicist)
- **physical** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/physical-vs-physician)

## Common misspellings (14)
`hpysician`, `phhysician`, `phsyician`, `phyiscian`, `physciian`, `physicain`, `physiccian`, `physiciann`, `physicina`, `physiican`, `physsician`, `phyysician`, `pphysician`, `pyhsician`

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