English
medical
Medical comes from French médical, from Medieval Latin medicālis, from Latin medicus ‘healing; physician’, from medeor ‘to heal’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedeor1‘to heal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicus1‘healing; physician’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500medicālis1
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmédical1
- Englishearliest quotation 1884medical1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English medical
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1884, Robert Louis Stevenson: “We medicals have a better way than that. When…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedeorWiktionary, English medical‘to heal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmedicusWiktionary, English medical‘healing; physician’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500medicālisWiktionary, English medical
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmédicalWiktionary, English medical
- Englishearliest quotation 1884medicalWiktionary, English medical. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1884, Robert Louis Stevenson: “We medicals have a better way than that. When…”
The story
Replaced Old English lǣċe (‘doctor (physician)’), which is cognate with Icelandic læknir (‘doctor’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *med- ‘to measure, give advice, heal’
must, model, modern, mode, mood, mud, module, mold, meditation, blackmail, modus, modal, modulate, mote, mete, moulder, modifiable, 32 more
through Proto-Italic *medos ‘measure’
commodity, mould, modification, modulation, molding, modulus, modulo, modicum, 15 more
through Latin medeor ‘to heal, cure, remedy, be good for or against…’
through Latin medicus ‘healing, curative, medical’
through Medieval Latin medicālis
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to the practice of medicine.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “medical”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin medeor / medical