psychiatry

/saɪˈkaɪətɹi/sigh-KIGH-uh-tree

Meaninghealing of the mind

Common meaning: medicine of mental illness

psychbreath of life; the soul, mindLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 903 · scan
iatra healer, doctorLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 374 · scan
ynoun ending: study, state or act

‘breath of life’ + ‘a healer, doctor’ → psychiatry

Journey through time

Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.

psych — Greek ψυχή “breath of life; the soul, mind” (dictionary form; path not traced)
iatr — Greek ἰατρός “a healer, doctor” (dictionary form; path not traced)

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek ψυχή ‘breath of life; the soul, mind’ + Greek ἰατρός ‘a healer, doctor’.

Did you know (Greek iatros, "a…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry ἰατρός, p. 374 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Greek psyche, breath…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry ψυχή, p. 903 · dictionary scan

Roots

ψυχή Greek “breath of life; the soul, mind”
ἰατρός Greek “a healer, doctor”

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app