What does "medicine" mean?
A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug.
Medicine
/ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug.
- Grammar: medicine is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: anatomy, anesthesiology, antibiotic, antidote.
- Useful contrasts: disease, poison.
- Usage evidence: Have you taken your medicine yet?
How to use "medicine"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "medicine" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "medicine" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "medicine" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "medicine" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "medicine" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "anatomy" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "medicine", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way; a pharmaceutical drug. countable, uncountable
"This medicine has fewer adverse effects than others in its drug class."
- 2 the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries wordnet
- 3 Any treatment or cure. broadly, countable
"A legislative remedy might be some harsh medicine; is that cure worse than the ill?"
- 4 punishment for one's actions wordnet
- 5 The study of the cause, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease or illness. uncountable
"She's studying medicine at university because she wants to be a doctor in the future."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 (medicine) something that treats or prevents or alleviates the symptoms of disease wordnet
- 7 The profession and practice of physicians, including surgeons. uncountable
"The history of medicine can be discretized into eras with differing relationships between physicians and surgeons"
- 8 the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques wordnet
- 9 The profession and practice of physicians, including surgeons.; The profession and practice of nonsurgical physicians as sometimes distinguished from that of surgeons. historical, mainly, uncountable
"the evolving relationship of medicine to surgery in the nineteenth century"
- 10 Ritual magic used, as by a medicine man, to promote a desired outcome in healing, hunting, or warfare; traditional medicine. uncountable
- 11 Among the Native Americans, any object supposed to give control over natural or magical forces, to act as a protective charm, or to cause healing. countable, uncountable
"The North American Indian boy usually took as his medicine the first animal of which he dreamed during the long and solitary fast that he observed at puberty."
- 12 Black magic, superstition. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 13 A philter or love potion. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged. It could not be else. I have drunk medicines."
- 14 A physician. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"I have seen a medicine / That's able to breathe life into a stone"
- 15 Recreational drugs, especially alcoholic drinks. countable, slang, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To treat with medicine. obsolete, rare
"And we shall find, under the head of the medicining of the body, some things on the subject of medicine in general, which could be better said there than here, because of the wrath of professional dignitaries,- the eye of the 'basilisk,' was not perhaps quite so terrible in that quarter then, as it was in some others."
- 2 treat medicinally, treat with medicine wordnet
Example
"Have you taken your medicine yet?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "medicine"?
Common synonyms include: anatomy, anesthesiology, antibiotic, antidote, audiology, bacteriology.
How do you use "medicine" in a sentence?
Have you taken your medicine yet?
How do you pronounce "medicine"?
Pronounced /ˈmɛd.ɪ.s(ɪ)n/.
Etymology
From Middle English medicin, from Middle French medicine, from Old French medecine, from Latin medicīna (“the healing art, medicine, a physician's shop, a remedy, medicine”), feminine of medicīnus (“of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a physician or surgeon”), from medicus (“a physician, surgeon”). The extended sense of "Indigenous magic" is a calque of Ojibwe mashkiki (“medicine”) or mide (or cognates in related languages) when used in compounds such as Grand Medicine Society, medicine lodge, medicine dance, medicine bag, medicine wheel, medicine man, Medicine Line, and bad medicine or place names such as Medicine Hat, Medicine Creek, etc.