Doctrix
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A female medical doctor, physician. humorous, obsolete, rare
"Secondly, There is a Doctrix, concerning whom I will relate unto you these most certain stories.[…]A sickly Rustick came unto her, complaining of a pain in his neck, and betwixt his shoulders. She affirmed his disease to be the Ripples in his neck, and essayed to cure him thus;[…]A Rustick woman came unto her, to get her advice concerning the Gravell, wherewith she was much troubled. The Doctrix gave her this advice, for causing the stone fall down into the neck of the bladder, You must stand leaning forwards with your two hands, upon the arms of a great chair, setting your feet far asunder; then let your Husband take a broad shovel, and give you four or five good clanks or strokes upon the buttocks with it."
- 2 The title of a female doctor. rare
"Miss Blackwell had duly attended Lectures at the College, and received a formal diploma, under the title of “Domina,” which was the only feminine that the Senate could find for Doctor. […] For Doctrix Blackwell—that’s the way / To dub in rightful gender— / In her profession, ever may / Prosperity attend her!"
- 3 A female teacher. obsolete, rare
"Alice Driuer martyr. This was the doctrix of the forſaid weauer, who was ſo malepart and contumelious before the iudges, as firſt her eares were cutt of, for callinge Q. Mary Iezabell."
- 4 A protagonist of the television series Doctor Who (called the Doctor) who is female. rare, slang
"> : Clavicle Squad deserve a mention, too. > > Oh? I'm partial to female clavicles. Then perhaps you can write stories about the Doctrixes... ;D"
Example
More examples"Secondly, There is a Doctrix, concerning whom I will relate unto you these most certain stories.[…]A sickly Rustick came unto her, complaining of a pain in his neck, and betwixt his shoulders. She affirmed his disease to be the Ripples in his neck, and essayed to cure him thus;[…]A Rustick woman came unto her, to get her advice concerning the Gravell, wherewith she was much troubled. The Doctrix gave her this advice, for causing the stone fall down into the neck of the bladder, You must stand leaning forwards with your two hands, upon the arms of a great chair, setting your feet far asunder; then let your Husband take a broad shovel, and give you four or five good clanks or strokes upon the buttocks with it."
Etymology
From Middle English doctrice, from Latin doctrīx (“a female teacher”), feminine form of doctor (“a teacher”). The "female physician" sense is from the English doctor (which is from the Latin doctor) medical sense, analyzed as a feminine form of the English word. By surface analysis, doc(tor) + -trix.
Learned borrowing from Latin doctrīx (“a female teacher”), the female equivalent of doctor, by analogy with English Doctor.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.