-.trē, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: probably from (assumed) New Latin psychiatria, from psych- + -iatria -iatry
1. : a branch of medicine that deals with the science and practice of treating mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders especially as originating in endogenous causes or resulting from faulty interpersonal relationships
2. : a treatise or text on or theory of the etiology, recognition, treatment, or prevention of mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder or the application of psychiatric principles to any area of human activity
social psychiatry
3. : the psychiatric service in a general hospital
this patient should be referred to psychiatry