Standard Lemma guide

medical

adj · noun · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈmɛdɪkl̩/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M EH1 D AH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: M EH1 D IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the practice of medicine.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • medical doctor; medical student
  • Do you have any medical experience?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Intended to have a therapeutic effect; medicinal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • medical marijuana; medical cannabis; medical treatment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Requiring medical treatment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • A costly medical condition can bankrupt you if it doesn't kill you first.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Pertaining to the state of one's health.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • medical examination; medical exemption; medical history; medical record; medical diagnosis

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Pertaining to or requiring treatment by other than surgical means.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • medical ward

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nonsurgical, nonoperative

Antonyms: surgical, operative

6

adj

Meaning 6

Pertaining to medication specifically (that is, pharmacotherapy), rather than to other aspects of medicine and surgery.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, usually

Examples

  • medical oncology, radiation oncology, and surgical oncology
  • surgical therapy only when medical therapy fails

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A medical examination.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • You'll have to get a medical before you apply for that job.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A medical practitioner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective

Meaning 9

requiring or amenable to treatment by medicine especially as opposed to surgery

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • medical treatment
  • pneumonia is a medical disease

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: surgical

10

adjective

Meaning 10

of or belonging to Aesculapius or the healing art

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aesculapian

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective

Meaning 11

relating to the study or practice of medicine

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the medical profession
  • a medical student
  • medical school

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

a thorough physical examination; includes a variety of tests depending on the age and sex and health of the person

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: checkup, medical checkup, medical examination, medical exam, health check

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: examination, scrutiny

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *med-der. Proto-Italic *medēōrder. Latin medeor Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin medicus Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Medieval Latin medicālisbor. French médicalbor. English medical Borrowed from French médical, from Medieval Latin medicālis, from Latin medicus. Replaced Old English lǣċe (“doctor (physician)”), which is cognate with Icelandic læknir (“doctor”).

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mjekësor — of the practice of medicine
  • Arabic: طِبِّيّ (ṭibbiyy) — of the practice of medicine
  • Armenian: բժշկական (bžškakan) — of the practice of medicine
  • Azerbaijani: tibbi — of the practice of medicine
  • Bulgarian: медици́нски (medicínski) — of the practice of medicine
  • Catalan: mèdic — of the practice of medicine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 醫 /医 (yī) — of the practice of medicine
  • Chinese Mandarin: 藥 /药 (yào) — of the practice of medicine
  • Czech: lékařský — of the practice of medicine
  • Danish: medicinsk — of the practice of medicine
  • Dutch: medisch — of the practice of medicine
  • Esperanto: medicina — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääketieteellinen — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääkäri- — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääketieteen — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääketiede- — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääkehoito- — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääkinnällinen — of the practice of medicine
  • French: médical — of the practice of medicine
  • Galician: médico — of the practice of medicine
  • Georgian: სამედიცინო (samedicino) — of the practice of medicine
  • Georgian: საექიმო (saekimo) — of the practice of medicine
  • German: medizinisch — of the practice of medicine
  • German: ärztlich — of the practice of medicine
  • Greek: ιατρικός (iatrikós) — of the practice of medicine
  • Ancient Greek: ἰατρικός (iatrikós) — of the practice of medicine
  • Hebrew: רפואי \ רְפוּאִי (refuí) — of the practice of medicine
  • Hungarian: orvosi — of the practice of medicine
  • Icelandic: læknisfræðilegur — of the practice of medicine
  • Indonesian: medis — of the practice of medicine
  • Italian: medico — of the practice of medicine
  • Kazakh: медициналық (medisinalyq) — of the practice of medicine
  • Latvian: medicīnisks — of the practice of medicine
  • Norwegian Bokmål: medisinsk — of the practice of medicine
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: medisinsk — of the practice of medicine
  • Persian: طبی (tebbi) — of the practice of medicine
  • Polish: medyczny — of the practice of medicine
  • Polish: lekarski — of the practice of medicine
  • Portuguese: médico — of the practice of medicine
  • Russian: медици́нский (medicínskij) — of the practice of medicine
  • Russian: враче́бный (vračébnyj) — of the practice of medicine
  • Scottish Gaelic: lèigh — of the practice of medicine
  • Scottish Gaelic: meadaigeach — of the practice of medicine
  • Serbo-Croatian: medicinski — of the practice of medicine
  • Slovak: lekársky — of the practice of medicine
  • Slovene: medicínski — of the practice of medicine
  • Spanish: médico — of the practice of medicine
  • Swedish: medicinsk — of the practice of medicine
  • Tajik: тиббӣ (tibbi) — of the practice of medicine
  • Turkish: tıbbi — of the practice of medicine
  • Ottoman Turkish: طبی (tıbbî) — of the practice of medicine
  • Ukrainian: меди́чний (medýčnyj) — of the practice of medicine
  • Ukrainian: лі́карський (líkarsʹkyj) — of the practice of medicine
  • Urdu: طِبّی (tibbī) — of the practice of medicine
  • Uyghur: تىببىي (tibbiy) — of the practice of medicine
  • Uzbek: tibbiy — of the practice of medicine
  • Finnish: lääke- — medicinal
  • Finnish: lääkinnällinen — medicinal
  • Finnish: sairas- — requiring medical treatment
  • Finnish: lääkärin — pertaining to health
  • Finnish: terveys- — pertaining to health
  • Finnish: lääkärintarkastus — medical examination
Real reading context

medical in complete knowledge articles