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Webster 1828 Edition

Noun.

A person skilled in the art of healing; one whose profession is to prescribe remedies for diseases.

In a spiritual sense, one that heals moral diseases; as a physician of the soul.

physician ‎(plural physicians)

physician on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

A practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon; a practitioner who treats with medication rather than with surgery.
- 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter II”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
  
  His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill; […].
A medical doctor trained in human medicine.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
  The doctor had to go to London for a physician to take charge of his practice […].

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, a physician holds a postgraduate degree such Master of General Medicine or fellowship certificate such MRCP or FRCP from the Royal College of Physicians in UK, or the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Australia and New Zealand. Contrarily, in the United States, the term is frequently regulated by State laws, and in all States includes those with the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree (not to be confused with osteopaths), the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree, and in some States those with the D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic) degree (who are neither medical doctors nor part of allied health).

terms related to physician

medical doctor

Arabic: طَبِيب (ar) m ‎(ṭabīb)
Egyptian Arabic: دكتور m ‎(duktuur)
Aramaic:

Syriac: ܐܣܝܐ m ‎(’āsyā’), ܐܣܝܬܐ f ‎(’āsītā’)

Hebrew: אסיא m ‎(’āsyā’), אסיתא f ‎(’āsītā’)
Armenian: բժիշկ (hy) ‎(bžišk)
Belarusian: урач m ‎(urač), доктар m ‎(doktar), лекар m ‎(ljekar)
Catalan: metge (ca) m, metgessa (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)}医生 ‎(yīshēng)
Czech: lékař (cs) m, doktor (cs) m
Dutch: dokter (nl) m
Esperanto: kuracisto (eo)
Estonian: arst (et)
Faroese: lækni m
Finnish: lääkäri (fi)
French: médecin (fr) m
German: Arzt (de) m, Ärztin (de) f
Greek: ιατρός (el) m, f ‎(iatrós), γιατρός (el) m, f ‎(giatrós)
Hebrew: רופא (he) m ‎(rofe), רופאה f ‎(rof'a)
Hungarian: orvos (hu)
Interlingua: medico, doctor
Irish: lia m
Italian: medico (it) m, dottore (it) m, dottoressa (it) f, dottore in medicina m
Japanese: 医師 (ja) ‎(いし, ishi)

Khmer: អ្នករូបសាស្ត្រ ‎(neak roob pak sas)
Korean: 의사 (ko) ‎(uisa)
Kurdish:
Sorani: پزشک (ku)
Latin: medicus (la) m, medica (la) f
Macedonian: лекар m ‎(lékar)
Maltese: tabib m, tabiba f
Navajo: azeeʼííłʼíní
Norwegian: lege (no) m
Old English: lǣce m
Polish: lekarz (pl) m, doktor (pl) m, medyk (pl) m
Portuguese: médico (pt) m
Romanian: medic (ro) m, medică f, doctor (ro) m, doctoriță (ro) f
Russian: врач (ru) m ‎(vrač), до́ктор (ru) m ‎(dóktor)
Scottish Gaelic: lighiche m, dotair m
Serbo-Croatian: lijȇčnīk (sh) m, lijȇčnica (sh) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: gójc m, duchtaŕ m
Spanish: médico (es) m
Swedish: läkare (sv) c
Thai: หมอ (th) ‎(mo)
Turkish: doktor (tr), hekim (tr), tabip (tr)
Volapük: (♂♀) sanan (vo), (♂) hisanan, (♀) jisanan, (older term) sanel, (older term) medinel
Yiddish: דאָקטער m ‎(dokter)

From Middle English fisicien, from Old French fisicïen ‎(“physician”) (modern French physicien ‎(“physicist”)), from fisique ‎(“art of healing”), from Latin physica ‎(“natural science”), from Ancient Greek φυσική ἐπιστήμη ‎(phusikḗ epistḗmē, “knowledge of nature”), from φυσικός ‎(phusikós, “pertaining to nature”). Displaced native Middle English læche, leche, archaic Modern English leech "physician" (from Old English lǣċe ‎(“physician, medical doctor”)).