Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

doctor

/ˈdɑktɚ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.90 in modern English

Syllables
doc-tor
IPA
/ˈdɑktɚ/
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

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 DO, DPM, MD, DMD, or DDS in the US, or MBBS or BDS in the UK.

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.

noun

A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.

noun

A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.

noun

A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.

Obsolete

noun

Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.

Dated

noun

A fish, the friar skate.

noun

A witch doctor.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *doḱ-éye-ti Proto-Italic *dokejō Proto-Italic *dokeō Ancient Greek διδάσκω (didáskō)sl. Latin doceō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin doctorbor. Old French doctur Anglo-Norman doctourder. Middle English doctour English doctor From Middle English doctor, doctour (“an expert, authority on a subject”), from Anglo-Norman doctour, from Latin doctor (“teacher”), from doceō (“to teach”). Displaced native Middle English lerare (“doctor, teacher”) (from Middle English leren (“to teach, instruct”) from Old English lǣran, lēran (“to teach, instruct, guide”), compare Old English lārēow (“teacher, master”)). Displaced Old English lǣċe (“doctor, physician”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈdɑktɚ/
  • British English: /ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/

Usage

Inflected Forms

doctors (plural) doctour (alternative, obsolete) doctors (present, singular) doctoring (participle, present) doctored (participle, past) doctored (past) the Doctor (canonical)

Derived Forms

antidoctor bedoctor dedoctor doc doctorable doctoral doctorcraft doctordom doctorer doctorese doctoress doctress

Phrases

abortion doctor an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay an apple a day keeps the doctor away Angelic Doctor barefoot doctor brain doctor Cape Doctor cleaning-doctor

Frequently Paired Words

docent doctorand doctorate doctrine doctrix Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Doctor of Arts Doctor of Architecture

Synonyms

physician doctor doc leech physic medic medician medical doctor family doctor general practitioner GP sawbones

Rhymes With

proctor procter dockter

Questions

How do you pronounce doctor?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɑktɚ/.
What does doctor mean?
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 DO, DPM, MD, DMD, or DDS in the US, or MBBS or BDS in the UK.
Where does doctor come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce doctor

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “doctor”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɑktɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “doctor”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “doctor” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.