The difference between Doctor and Physician
When used as nouns, doctor means a physician, whereas physician means a practitioner of physic, i.e. a specialist in internal medicine, especially as opposed to a surgeon.
Doctor is also verb with the meaning: to act as a medical doctor to.
check bellow for the other definitions of Doctor and Physician
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Doctor as a noun:
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, DPT, DC, Pharm.D., in the US or MBBS in the UK.
Examples:
"If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor."
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Doctor as a noun:
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.
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Doctor as a noun:
A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.
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Doctor as a noun:
a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.
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Doctor as a noun (obsolete):
A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.
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Doctor as a noun (dated):
Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.
Examples:
"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"
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Doctor as a noun:
A fish, the friar skate.
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Doctor as a verb (transitive):
To act as a medical doctor to.
Examples:
"Her children doctored her back to health."
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Doctor as a verb (intransitive, humorous):
To act as a medical doctor.
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Doctor as a verb (transitive):
To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.
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Doctor as a verb (transitive):
To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.
Examples:
"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."
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Doctor as a verb (transitive):
To genetically alter an extant species.
Examples:
"Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored."
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Doctor as a verb (transitive):
To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.
Examples:
"To doctor the signature of an [[instrument]] with intent to defraud is an example of [[forgery]]."
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Doctor as a verb (intransitive, obsolete):
To take medicine.
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Physician as a noun:
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.
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Physician as a noun:
A medical doctor trained in human medicine.