doctor

noun
/ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/UK/ˈdɑktɚ/US/ˈdɔktə//ˈdɒktəɹ/CA/ˈdɒktə/UK

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ-der. Proto-Italic *dokeō Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin doctorbor. Old French doctur Anglo-Norman doctourder. Middle English doctour English doctor From Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). Displaced native Middle English lerare (“doctor, teacher”) (from Middle English leren (“to teach, instruct”) from Old English lǣran, lēran (“to teach, instruct, guide”), compare Old English lārēow (“teacher, master”)). Displaced Old English lǣċe (“doctor, physician”).

  1. derived from doctor
  2. derived from doctour
  3. inherited from doctor

Definitions

  1. A physician

    A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick or injured. The final examination and qualification may award a doctor degree in which case the post-nominal letters are DO, DPM, MD, DMD, or DDS in the US, or MBBS or BDS in the UK.

    • If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor.
    • By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death / Will seize the doctor too.
  2. A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D. or Th.D. or one of many other…

    A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D. or Th.D. or one of many other terminal degrees conferred by a college or university.

  3. A veterinarian

    A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.

  4. + 16 more definitions
    1. A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange…

      A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.

    2. A teacher

      A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.

      • So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell the word of god, and forſoke the ſchole doctors and ſuch foolries.
      • one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel
    3. Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an…

      Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.

      • the doctor of a calico-printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous colouring matter
      • the doctor, or auxiliary engine, also called "donkey engine"
      • The use of a disk doctor may be the only way of recovering valuable data following a disk crash.
    4. A fish, the friar skate.

    5. A witchdoctor.

    6. A ship's cook.

      • […] old Scotch Jem the boatswain, tunes his fiddle, and the doctor, (ship's cook,) produces his tambourine; the men dance on deck, […]
      • His galley is small, and, microscopic as it is, it is shared by his brother in misery, the ship's cook, he whom the crew familiarly know as the “Doctor.”
    7. To act as a medical doctor to.

      • Her children doctored her back to health.
    8. To act as a medical doctor.

      • 2017, "Do No Harm", season 8, episode 2 of Adventure Time Doctor Princess: Put this on. [gives her lab coat to Finn] OK, you're a doctor now. Good luck. Finn: Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! I don't know how to doctor!
    9. To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor

      To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.

    10. To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or…

      To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.

      • They doctored their apple trees by vigorous pruning, and now the dwarfed trees are easier to pick.
      • We may legally doctor a pet to reduce its libido.
    11. To genetically alter an extant species.

      • Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored.
    12. To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.

      • To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.
      • Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated.
    13. To adulterate, drug, or poison (drink).

    14. To take medicine.

    15. The title of an academic or medical doctor

      The title of an academic or medical doctor; used before or instead of the doctor's name.

      • The students asked to see Doctor Jones.
      • Doctor Smith carried out the medical procedure.
      • Well, Doctor, what do you think? Will he live?
    16. A mnemonic to help remember the difference between the Spanish verbs ser and estar (both…

      A mnemonic to help remember the difference between the Spanish verbs ser and estar (both meaning "to be"); ser is generally used for: Descriptions, Occupations, Characteristics, Times, Origins, and Relationships.

      • SER is used to classify or identify attributes like, description, occupation, characteristic, time, origin or relationship. The acronym D-O-C-T-O-R could be helpful to remember it.
      • You can use the acronyms DOCTOR and PLACE to help you remember ser vs. estar, particularly for more specific cases when you’re not sure which verb to use.
      • Let's look at DOCTOR and ser first. To recap, ser is used when discussing permanent states – about what something is – and this acronym is a useful trick to remind us what those permanent states are.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at doctor. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01doctor02university03institution04organization05legal06lawyers07lawyer

A definitional loop anchored at doctor. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at doctor

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA