03/04/2024, 17:06 doctor - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

doctor
See also: Doctor

Contents
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Usage notes
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
Verb
Translations
See also
Asturian
Noun
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Related terms
Further reading
Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Synonyms
Related terms
Descendants
See also

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Latin
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
References
Romanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Declension
See also
Spanish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
Related terms
Descendants
Further reading

English

Alternative forms
doctour (obsolete)

Etymology
From Middle English doctor ‎(“an expert, authority on a subject”‎), doctour, from Anglo-Norman
doctour, from Latin doctor ‎(“teacher”‎), from doceō ‎(“I 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”‎), and doublet of docent.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɒktə/

(General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɑktɚ/
(General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈdɔktə/, /ˈdɒktə/
Audio (UK) 0:02

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Audio (US) 0:01

Rhymes: -ɒktə(ɹ)
Hyphenation: doc‧tor

Noun
doctor (plural doctors)

1. 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 D.O., DPM, M.D., DMD, DDS, in the US or MBBS in the UK.
[quotations ▼]

If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor.

2. 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 medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.
4. A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange
transactions.
5. (obsolete) A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.
[quotations ▼]
6. (dated) Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in
an exigency. [quotations ▼]

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"

7. A fish, the friar skate.

8. (obsolete, nautical, slang) A ship's cook. [quotations ▼]

Usage notes
Doctor is capitalized when used as a title:

Doctor Smith

In the UK and Commonwealth (except Canada), a surgeon (including a dental or veterinary

surgeon) is commonly addressed as Mr./Ms./Mrs. rather than Doctor.

Synonyms
(physician): doc (informal), family doctor, general practitioner, GP (UK), medic, physician,
sawbones (slang), surgeon (who undertakes surgery); see also Thesaurus:physician
(veterinarian): vet, veterinarian, veterinary, veterinary surgeon

Derived terms
See also Types of academic doctor below

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an apple a day keeps Angelic Doctor doctor up play doctor

the doctor at bay doctorishness Doctor Yellow pox doctor's clerk
an apple a day keeps doctorism Doctor Yellow
the doctor away doctorless plague doctor
[ show more ▼ ]

Related terms
doctorate
doctrine
doctrix
types of academic doctor [show ▼]

Descendants
Descendants [show ▼]

Translations
±person who has attained a doctorate [show ▼]

±medical doctor — see also physician [show ▼]

veterinarian — see veterinarian

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate
translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked [show ▼]

Verb
doctor (third-person singular simple present doctors, present participle doctoring, simple
past and past participle doctored)

1. (transitive) To act as a medical doctor to.

Her children doctored her back to health.

2. (intransitive, humorous) To act as a medical doctor. [quotations ▼]

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

5. (transitive) To genetically alter an extant species.

Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored.

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6. (transitive) To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.
[quotations ▼]

To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.

7. (transitive) To adulterate, drug or poison (drink).

8. (intransitive, obsolete) To take medicine.

Translations
±act as a medical doctor to [show ▼]

±award the title of doctor to [show ▼]

±alter or make obscure, in order to deceive [show ▼]

See also
doctorand
Wikipedia article on doctorates
surgeon

Asturian

Noun
doctor m (plural doctores)

1. doctor (person who has attained a doctorate)

Catalan

Etymology
Borrowed from Latin doctōrem.

Pronunciation
IPA(key): (Central) [dukˈto]
IPA(key): (Balearic) [dokˈto]
IPA(key): (Valencian) [dokˈtoɾ]

Noun
doctor m (plural doctors, feminine doctora)

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1. doctor

Related terms
doctoral
doctorat

Further reading
“doctor” (https://dlc.iec.cat/Results?EntradaText=doctor&AllInfoMorf=False&OperEntrada=0&O
perDef=0&OperEx=0&OperSubEntrada=0&OperAreaTematica=0&InfoMorfType=0&OperCatGr
am=False&AccentSen=False&CurrentPage=0&refineSearch=0) in Diccionari de la llengua
catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
“doctor (https://www.diccionari.cat/cerca/gran-diccionari-de-la-llengua-catalana?search_api_full
text_cust=doctor)”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,
2024
“doctor” (https://www.avl.gva.es/lexicval/xhtml/dnv.xhtml?paraula=doctor) in Diccionari
normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
“doctor” (https://dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=doctor) in Diccionari català-valencià-balear,
Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology
From Middle Dutch doctor, from Latin doctor ‎(“teacher, instructor”‎).

Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈdɔk.tɔr/
Audio 0:01

Hyphenation: doc‧tor
Rhymes: -ɔktɔr

Noun
doctor m (plural doctoren or doctors, diminutive doctortje n)

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1. doctor (person who has attained a doctorate)

Synonyms
dr.

Related terms
doctorandus

Descendants
Afrikaans: doktor
→ Indonesian: doktor

See also
dokter

Latin
FWOTD – 23 November 2013

Etymology
From doceō ‎(“I teach”‎) +‎-tor.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA(key): /ˈdok.tor/, [ˈd̪ɔkt̪ɔr]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈdok.tor/, [ˈd̪ɔkt̪or]

Noun
doctor m (genitive doctōris, feminine doctrīx or doctorissa); third declension

1. teacher, instructor [quotations ▼]

2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) catechist, Doctor of the Church

Declension
Third-declension noun.

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Case Singular Plural

Nominative doctor doctōrēs

Genitive doctōris doctōrum

Dative doctōrī doctōribus

Accusative doctōrem doctōrēs

Ablative doctōre doctōribus

Vocative doctor doctōrēs

Derived terms
doctōrō (Mediaeval)
doctrīna

Related terms
doceō docilis doctiusculē doctē
docibilis docilitās doctrīnālis
docibilitās doctificus doctus

Descendants
Emilian: dutåur Old Galician-Portuguese: doutor
Friulian: dotôr Galician: doutor
Italo-Dalmatian Portuguese: doutor
Dalmatian: dotuar Sardinian: duttore, datori
Italian: dottore Venetian: dotor
Sicilian: dutturi
→ Cimbrian: dotóar
→ Maltese: dottor

Borrowed terms

→ Albanian: doktor → Faroese: doktari

→ Arabic: ‫ ُد ْك ُتور‬‎(doktōr, duktūr‎) → Georgian: დოქტორი ‎(dokṭori‎)
→ German: Doktor, Doctor; Dr.
Egyptian Arabic: ‫ ُد ْك ُتور‬‎(duktūr‎) → Romanian: doctor
Hijazi Arabic: ‫ ُد ْك تور‬‎(duktōr‎) → German Low German: Dokter
→ Hungarian: doktor
→ Armenian: դոկտոր ‎(doktor‎)
→ Icelandic: doktor
→ Asturian: doctor
→ Indonesian: doktor
→ Belarusian: доктар ‎(dóktar‎)
→ Irish: dochtúir
→ Bulgarian: доктор ‎(doktor‎)
→ Luxembourgish: Dokter
→ Catalan: doctor
→ Central Kurdish: ‫ دکتۆر‬‎(diktor‎)
→ Czech: doktor
→ Danish: doktor
→ Estonian: doktor

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→ Middle Dutch: doctor → Old French: doctur, docteur

Dutch: doctor Anglo-Norman: doctour
Afrikaans: doktor → Middle English: doctour, doctor
→ Indonesian: doktor English: doctor (see there for
Dutch: dokter further descendants)
Afrikaans: dokter Scots: doctor
Jersey Dutch: dâktor French: docteur
Negerhollands: doktu, dokter
→ Arabic: ‫ ُد ْك تور‬‎(doktōr‎)
→ Caribbean Hindustani: dáktar
→ Kaba: dòktórò
→ Caribbean Javanese: dhokter
→ Indonesian: dokter → Persian: ‫ دکتر‬‎(doktor‎)
→ Turkish: doktor
→ Balinese: ᬤᭀᬓ᭄ᬢᭂᬃ ‎(dokter‎)
→ Javanese: ꦝꦺꦴꦏ꧀ꦠꦼꦂ → Ladino: doktor
‎(dhokter‎) → Vietnamese: đốc-tờ
→ Minangkabau: doto, dotor Norman: docteu
→ Nias: doto Walloon: docteur
→ Sundanese: ᮓᮧᮊ᮪ᮒᮨᮁ
→ Old Czech: doktor (learned)
‎(dokter‎)
→ Ternate: dokter Czech: doktor
→ Papiamentu: dòkter, dòchter, dòktu, → Old Polish: doktor (learned)
dokter
Polish: doktor, doktór
→ Sranan Tongo: datra
→ Kashubian: doktór
→ Aukan: dataa
Silesian: dŏchtōr
→ Kari'na: datra
→ Trió: ratra → Russian: до́ ктор ‎(dóktor‎) (see there for
further descendants)
Limburgish: dókter → Saterland Frisian: Dokter
→ Latvian: doktors → Serbo-Croatian: doktor / доктор
→ Lithuanian: daktaras → Slovak: doktor
→ Macedonian: доктор ‎(doktor‎) → Slovene: doktor
→ Norwegian Bokmål: doktor → Spanish: doctor, Dr., dostor, dotor
→ Norwegian Nynorsk: doktor
→ Tagalog: doktor
→ Yaqui: takter
→ Swedish: doktor, (Abbreviations) d:r, dr, dr.
→ Finnish: tohtori
→ Ukrainian: доктор ‎(doktor‎)
→ Vilamovian: dökter
→ Welsh: doethur
→ Yiddish: ‫ דָא קטָא ר‬‎(doktor‎)

References
“doctor (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=doct
or)”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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“doctor (https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0060:entry=doct
or)”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
doctor (http://ducange.enc.sorbonne.fr/DOCTOR) in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s
Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P.
Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
doctor (http://micmap.org/dicfro/search/gaffiot/doctor) in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire
illustré latin-français, Hachette
doctor (http://www.neulatein.de/words/start2.htm?../words/0/000456.htm) in Ramminger,
Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen
von Petrarca bis 1700‎[2] (http://www.neulatein.de/), pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Romanian

Alternative forms
doftor — popular
доктор ‎(doctor‎) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology
Borrowed from Latin doctor (17th c.), via French docteur or German Doktor.

Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ˈdok.tor/
Audio 0:02

Noun
doctor m (plural doctori, feminine equivalent doctoriță or (nonstandard) doctoră)

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1. doctor

Declension
Declension of doctor [show ▼]

See also
medic

Spanish

Alternative forms
Dr., dostor, dotor

Etymology
Borrowed from Latin doctor.

Pronunciation
IPA(key): /doɡˈtoɾ/ [d̪oɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
Audio (Colombia): 0:02

Rhymes: -oɾ
Syllabification: doc‧tor

Noun
doctor m (plural doctores, feminine doctora, feminine plural doctoras)

1. doctor (Ph.D.)
2. physician [synonym ▲]

Synonym: médico

Related terms
doctorado
doctorante

Descendants
→ Tagalog: doktor

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→ Yaqui: takter

Further reading
“doctor (https://dle.rae.es/doctor)”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera
edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

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