Pronunciation: ' däk-t ə r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English doctour teacher, doctor, from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin doctor, from Latin, teacher, from doc ē re to teach ― more at DOCILE
Date: 14th century
1 a : an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church ― called also doctor of the church b : a learned or authoritative teacher c : a person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (as a PhD) conferred by a university d : a person awarded an honorary doctorate (as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university
2 a : a person skilled or specializing in healing arts especially : one (as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice b : MEDICINE MAN
3 a : material added (as to food) to produce a desired effect b : a blade (as of metal) for spreading a coating or scraping a surface
4 : a person who restores, repairs, or fine-tunes things
– doc · tor · al \ -t( ə -)r ə l \ adjective
– doc · tor · less \ -t ə r-l ə s \ adjective
– doc · tor · ship \ - ˌ ship \ noun