physical
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- physickal (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Late Latin physicālis, from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
physical (comparative more physical, superlative most physical)
- Of medicine.
- (obsolete) Pertaining to the field of medicine; medical. [15th–19th c.]
- (obsolete) That practises medicine; pertaining to doctors, physicianly. [18th c.]
- 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction[1]:
- Her father was thrown from his horse, when his blood was in a very inflammatory state, and the bruises were very dangerous; his recovery was not expected by the physical tribe.
- (obsolete) Medicinal; good for the health, curative, therapeutic. [16th–19th c.]
- 1579, Thomas North, translating Pliny, Parallel Lives:
- Phisicall [transl. ϕαρμακώδεις (pharmakṓdeis)] herbes, as Helleborum, Lingewort, or Beares foote.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:
- Is Brutus sick? and is it physical / To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours / Of the dank morning?
- 1579, Thomas North, translating Pliny, Parallel Lives:
- Of matter or nature.
- Pertaining to the world as understood through the senses rather than the mind; tangible, concrete; having to do with the material world. [from 16th c.]
- 1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], OCLC 948263597:
- Labour, then, in the physical world, is […] employed in putting objects in motion.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist[2], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
- In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
- It's not so much a physical place as a state of mind.
- In accordance with the laws of nature; now specifically, pertaining to physics. [from 16th c.]
- 2012 January 1, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist[3], volume 100, number 1, page 86:
- Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains.
- The substance has a number of interesting physical properties.
- Denoting a map showing natural features of the landscape (compare political). [from 18th c.]
- Pertaining to the world as understood through the senses rather than the mind; tangible, concrete; having to do with the material world. [from 16th c.]
- Of the human body.
- Having to do with the body as opposed to the mind; corporeal, bodily. [from 18th c.]
- Are you feeling any physical effects?
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 1, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force.
- Sexual, carnal. [from 18th c.]
- Involving bodily force or contact; vigorous, aggressive. [from 20th c.]
- This team plays a very physical game, so watch out.
- Having to do with the body as opposed to the mind; corporeal, bodily. [from 18th c.]
AntonymsEdit
- mental, psychological; having to do with the mind viewed as distinct from body.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
having to do with the material world; tangible
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having to do with physics
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having to do with the body; corporeal
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involving bodily force; vigorous
NounEdit
physical (plural physicals)
- Physical examination.
- (parapsychology) A physical manifestation of psychic origin, as through ectoplasmic solidification.
- 1926, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Land of Mist[4]:
- "I don't mind readings and clairvoyance, but the physicals do try you."
TranslationsEdit
physical examination
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