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physical, a. (and n.)|ˈfɪzɪkəl|
Also 5–7 phis-, 6 phus-; 5 -ycal, -ichal, 6–7 -icall.
[ad. med.L. physicālis, f. physica, physic n.: see -al1.]
I.
1. a. Of or pertaining to material nature, or to the phenomenal universe perceived by the senses; pertaining to or connected with matter; material; opposed to psychical, mental, spiritual.
Often in such collocations as physical cause, physical energy, physical power; physical possibility, physical impossibility, etc.: see also 7.
1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lvii. §4 Sacraments..are not physicall but morall instruments of saluation. 1604E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. viii. 99 In naturall and phisicall things, we must not seeke out infallible and mathematicall rules, but that which is ordinary and tried by experience. 1605Bacon Adv. Learning ii. 29 For the handling of finall causes mixed with the rest in Phisicall enquiries, hath intercepted the seuere and diligent enquirie of all reall and phisicall causes. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. (1667) 7 Whether or no the Shape can by Physicall Agents be altered. 1695W. Alingham Geom. Epit. 86 If..the line E..be moved parallel to it self, through every phisical point in the line A, it will produce the rectangle AE. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. xxi. 215 As to physical causes, I am inclined to doubt altogether of their operation in this particular. 1832–4De Quincey Cæsars Wks. 1859 X. 14 Everything physical is measurable by weight, motion, and resistance. c1860Faraday Forces Nat. i. 16 Some of the more elementary, and, what we call, physical powers. 1880Haughton Phys. Geog. i. 2 The physical structure of the earth and stars. 1885Lyell's Elem. Geol. 100 There may be a physical break—unconformity—and also a palæontological break, between two successive groups of strata.
absol.1836Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 36 The dreamy days of boyhood, when I knew and worshipped nothing but the physical. 1883A. Edersheim Life Jesus II. 200 An attempt to shift the argument from the moral to the physical.
b. Belonging or relating to Natural Philosophy or Natural Science; of, pertaining or relating to, or in accordance with, the regular processes or laws of nature.
1580G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. Wks. (Grosart) I. 48 With great Physicall, and Naturall Reason. 1587Greene Euphues to Philautus Wks. (Grosart) VI. 204 Neyther can fishermen tell the Phusicall reasons of the motions of the Sea. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 497 Of some general laws of nature... We shall divide these Laws into Laws physical and Laws moral. 1808J. Webster Nat. Philos. 7 It is an object worthy of attention to instruct the youthful mind in physical knowledge. 1830Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. ii. ii. 98 The law of gravitation is a physical axiom. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 304 The most interesting feature in the physical history of the Calabrias, is the frequency of their earthquakes. 1865Mozley Mirac. (ed. 2) Pref. 11 None of them are or profess to be physical explanations of miracles, i.e. reductions of them to laws of nature in the scientific sense of that term.
c. Of persons: Dealing with or devoted to natural science (in quot. 1768, materialistic).
1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. 391 Out of whom, according to the Physical Empedocles, proceed all things that were, are, and shall be, viz. Plants, Men, Beasts and Gods. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) I. 5 (Calais) Every power which sustained life, perform'd it with so little friction, that 'twould have confounded the most Physical precieuse in France: with all her materialism, she could scarce have called me a machine. 1898Harper's Mag. XCVI. 623 The foremost physical philosophers of the time came to the aid of the best opticians.
2. Belonging to the forces of nature and properties of bodies, other than chemical and vital; belonging to the science of physics: see physics 2.
1734Keill's Exam. The. Earth 267 His excellent Observations, both Astronomical and Physical. 1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 2 Physical characters are those physical phenomena which are exhibited by the mutual action of minerals and other bodies; such as magnetic properties [etc.]. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 47 The internal and external parts will vary both in their physical and chemical properties. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 104 The physical properties of matter may be altered without affecting its deeper chemical constitution.
3. a. Of the body, and bodily members or faculties (as distinct from the mind); bodily, corporeal.
1780Bentham Princ. Legisl. xiv. §3 Suppose for example the physical desire has for its object the satisfying of hunger. 1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 259 Milton has got rid of the horns and tail, the vulgar and physical insignia of the devil. 1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) I. xii. 358 Physical or natural persons..In this instance ‘physical’ or ‘natural’..denotes a person not fictitious or legal. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 104 The man gave me the impression of physical strength. 1885E. Garrett At any Cost i. 10 Mrs. Sinclair..had long parted from the last bloom of physical youth. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 108 We take no physical exercise, except riding. 1899Westm. Gaz. 24 May 5/1 The lads..went through a course of physical drill with wonderful precision.
b. as n. (pl.) = physical powers. colloq. rare.
1824Examiner 26/2 He lacks physicals for swagger. 1842G. A. McCall Lett. fr. Frontiers (1868) 394 Disease, and the wear and tear incidental to the exposure of the physicals in such a country as this.
c. as n. A medical examination to determine physical fitness.
1934N. Sainsbury Gridiron Grit in Stirring Football Stories (1941) 77 He found that everybody had had the same idea about physicals and that there were at least forty candidates..ahead of him. 1944H. McCloy Panic 131 If you imagine he didn't try to get in the Army, you're mistaken... I saw him each time he got back from his physical. 1968Guardian 28 Dec. 1/5 A day of medical tests—which will go far beyond the ‘complete physical’ that an ordinary citizen knows. 1973W. McCarthy Detail i. 66 Doctor Miller will see you..for a short physical. 1978N. Freeling Night Lords xix. 89 No cop got sent to investigate his own apartment block... It was..like a doctor being asked to give his own wife a physical.
d. Characterized by or suggestive of bodily (as distinct from mental or psychological) activities or attributes. Of a person or activity: inclined to be bodily aggressive or violent.
1970J. G. Vermandel Dine with Devil xii. 77 He's obviously one of these tremendously magnetic types. And you Scorpios are so physical, aren't you? 1972J. Mosedale Football vii. 100 Facing the very physical Philadelphia team. 1974‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor viii. 59, I was feeling pretty physical. Frustrated, you could almost say. 1975J. Mitchell Smear Job xiii. 104 It's up to you. Either you belt up or I'll get physical. 1976Ilkeston Advertiser 10 Dec. 16/3 Morton became involved and there was ‘some physical horseplay’. 1978Rugby World Apr. 8/3 Rugby is a physical game.
II.
4. a. Of or belonging to medicine; medical. Now rare. † physical garden = physic garden.
c1450Lydg. & Burgh Secrees 1803 Sleep..ffrom these seknessys the boody doth Recure, Which previd is by phisichal prudence. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 225 He shall learne to be skilfull in the art Geometrical, Arithmeticall, Musicall, Cheyrurgicall, Physical. 1679Trials of Wakeman, etc. 49 There is only that part of it which is the Physical Prescriptions. 1739Johnson L.P., Boerhaave Wks. IV. 343 His profession of botany made it part of his duty to superintend the physical garden. 1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. Cambr. 94 Furnishing a Physical Hospital. 1799(title) The Medical and Physical Journal. 1826Southey in Q. Rev. XXXIV. 311 Physical books being the most dangerous that any person can take to perusing—except metaphysical ones.
†b. Of persons: Practising medicine; medical.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. xlv. 296 These cursed physical folks can find out nothing to do us good, but what would poison the devil. 1749Smollett Gil Blas ii. iv. ⁋2, I resumed my physical dress, and..visited several patients. 1757W. Thompson R.N. Advoc. 44 Which their..Friends, the top of the Physical Faculty can verify. 1796C. Smith Marchmont IV. 274 The physical men who attend her seem to think not.
†c. physical finger = physician finger. Obs.
1623tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. i. v. 49 To this Physicall finger a veine answereth.
†5.
a. Used in medicine, medicinal. Obs.
1579–80North Plutarch, Demetrius (1895) V. 391 Phisicall herbes, as Helleborum, Lingewort and Beares foote. 1613Markham Eng. Husbandman ii. i. v. (1635) 22 The red Rose is not..so tender as the Damaske, yet it is much more Phisicall, and oftner used in medicine. 1658J. Jones Ovid's Ibis 86 Medea was the first that invented Physical baths. 1692Tryon Good House-w. xxvi. (ed. 2) 208 This sort of drink [coffee] ought not to be used, but in a Physical way. 1775Adair Amer. Ind. 412 Angelica..is one of their physical greens. 1828Walker Dict., Guaiacum, a physical wood.
b. Beneficial to health; curative, remedial; restorative to the body, good (for one's health). Also fig. Obs.
1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 13, I cowde as weel bothe forge and fyle As cowd Boyce in hys phisycal consolacyoun. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 261 Is Brutus sicke? and is it Physicall To walke vnbraced, and sucke vp the humours Of the danke Morning? 1604E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xl. 318 They say moreover, that this wooll..is phisicall for other indispositions, as for the gowt. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle v. 2212 With mediocrity..To take Tobacco thus were phisicall. a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 113 A physicall Banket for our Soules.
c. Of the nature of or like medicine (in taste, smell, etc.); as bad as medicine. Obs.
a1648Digby Closet Open. (1677) 63 All other herbs..give it a physical taste. 1681R. Knox Hist. Ceylon 5 The Tree hath a pretty Physical smell like an Apothecaries Shop. 1706T. Baker Tunbr. Walks ii. i, Wretched hatchet-fac'd things that are physical to look at 'em.
†6. In need of medical treatment, sick; under medical treatment. Obs.
1633Shirley Witty Fair One iii. iv, What meanes this Apothecaries shop about thee, art Physicall? ― Bird in Cage iii. ii, Thou lookst dull and Phisicall me thinkes. 1761Brit. Mag. II. 388 In the latter [hospital] are near 300 physical patients, and about 60 chirurgical ones.
7. In special phrases and collocations.
physical anthropology, the study of the evolution of man and animals closely related to him, involving the observation or measurement of anatomical features, growth rates, genetic mechanisms, etc.; so physical-anthropological a., physical anthropologist. physical astronomy, that branch of astronomy which treats of the motions, masses, positions, light, heat, etc. of the heavenly bodies. physical atom: see quot. physical chemistry, the application of the techniques and theories of physics to the study of chemical systems; the study of the interrelation of chemical and physical properties; so physical-chemical adj. (= physico-chemical), physical chemist. physical culture, the development of the body by exercise; hence physical culturist, an advocate or exponent of physical culture. physical drill, physical exercises. physical education, regular instruction in bodily exercise and games, esp. in schools. physical force, material as opposed to moral force; in politics, the use of armed power, to effect or repress political changes; also attrib. physical geography, that branch of geography which deals with the natural features of the earth's surface, as distinct from its political divisions, commercial or historical relations, etc. physical geology, the study of the formation and history of strata and eruptive rocks, apart from palæontology. physical horizon: see horizon 1. physical jerks: see jerk n.1 2 d. physical laboratory, a laboratory for experiments in physical science. physical metallurgy, the science dealing with the structure and physical properties of metals. physical mineralogy, that which treats of the physical properties of minerals, apart from their chemical composition. physical object Philos., an object that exists in space and time and that can be perceived; also attrib. physical optics, that branch of optics which deals with the properties of light itself (as distinguished from the function of sight); sometimes restricted to that part which relates to the undulatory theory and the phenomena specially explained by it, as interference, etc. physical point, a point conceived as infinitely small, and yet a portion of matter. physical science or philosophy = physics. physical sciences, the sciences that treat of inanimate matter, and of energy apart from vitality: opposed to the biological or to the moral sciences. physical sign, a symptom of health or disease ascertainable by bodily examination. physical theology: see theology. physical therapy = physiotherapy; hence physical therapist, a physiotherapist. physical torture slang, physical training. physical training, the systematic use of exercises to promote physical fitness.
1958G. Daniel Megalith Builders of W. Europe i. 25 The word race is used..in its strict *physical-anthropological connotation of a group of people with heritable physical characteristics in common.
1878Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. VII. 540 The *physical anthropologist often regards the prehistoric worker as an antiquarian only, whilst the former is sometimes simply looked upon in the light of a demonstrative anatomist. 1936R. Linton Study of Man ii. 23 The first physical anthropologists..believed that every species and variety was the result of a separate act of creation and was therefore fixed and unchangeable. 1974Times 8 Nov. 12/4 The leprous bones were identified by..a physical anthropologist (an expert with skeletons).
1873A. L. Fox in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst. II. 361 The two expeditions which have lately left this country for Central Africa..have been furnished with detailed notes and queries on general anthropology, *physical anthropology, religions, myths, customs, [etc.]. 1904W. L. H. Duckworth Morphol. & Anthropol. ii. 14 This application of the principles of Morphology to the special case of Man constitutes the essence of Physical Anthropology. 1923A. L. Kroeber Anthropol. i. 5 Biological or physical anthropology—‘Somatology’ it is sometimes called in Anglo-Saxon countries, and simply ‘anthropology’ in continental Europe—has in part constituted a sort of specialization or sharpening of general biology. 1951E. E. Evans-Pritchard Social Anthropol. i. 3 Physical anthropology..is a branch of human biology and comprises such interests as heredity, nutrition, sex differences, the comparative anatomy and physiology of races, and the theory of human evolution. 1976Ann. Rev. Anthropol. V. 5 Hrdlicka was the founding father of American Physical Anthropology.
1834Penny Cycl. II. 529/2 The third department of astronomy..is that which goes under the name of *physical astronomy, and consists in the combination of the various phenomena as actually observed, in order to find out what are their physical causes, and according to what laws those causes act. 1903A. M. Clerke Astrophysics 1 Kepler first speculated on the causes of celestial movements, and introduced the term ‘physical astronomy’.
1850Daubeny Atom. The. v. (ed. 2) 147 [Dumas] proposes to designate that description of molecular groups into which bodies are resolved by heat, *physical atoms.
1964Economist 29 Feb. 790/1 The Humboldt university, of whose *physical-chemical institute he is the director. 1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 63 It shows itself essentially in the form of a dome structure..which can be detected in all the physical-chemical properties of the water. 1971Who's Who 331/1 Bowen, Edmund John... Papers on physical chemical subjects in scientific journals.
1929Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. LXXXIX. 171 *Physical chemists..have criticized methods which make use of tubes of small diameter. 1935Discovery Apr. 98/2 A problem for a physical chemist, assisted by a bio-chemist.
1893I. Remsen Princ. Theoret. Chem. (ed. 4) p. v, I have been tempted to change the book fundamentally and give it a character more in keeping with the recent tendencies of work in the field of *Physical or General Chemistry. 1898C. L. Speyers Text-bk. Physical Chem. i. 1 Physical Chemistry is the science which has for its object the investigation of chemical changes by physical methods. 1902Fortn. Rev. June 1014 A mechanism of the atoms, or, as it has come to be called in Germany, a physical chemistry, was developing. 1940Glasstone Text-bk. Physical Chem. p. xi, Obviously, atomic combination involves atomic forces, and it is one of the objects of physical chemistry to see how far the chemical interactions observed between atoms and molecules can be interpreted by means of the forces existing within and between atoms. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. X. 203/1 There are three different approaches to the study and use of physical chemistry: thermodynamics,..kinetics,..and molecular structure.
1867S. D. Kehoe Indian Club Exercise 18 Having discoursed..on the important benefits to be derived from *physical culture..we will now describe some of the special means of exercise. 1893Harper's Mag. Apr. 668/2 In the high-school department,..further instruction is given in..physical culture. 1912V. L. Whitechurch Thrilling Stories of Railway 11 He was a strong faddist on food and ‘physical culture’. 1963D. Webster Compl. Physique Bk. ii. 9 In all the systems of physical culture existing throughout the world non-apparatus work plays a most important part.
1904C. L. Neil Mod. Physical Culture xviii. 115 (heading) The *physical culturist's library. 1936Discovery Nov. 362/2 The concluding chapter deals with the athlete, and it is of great value to the physical trainer and culturist. 1960J. Hewitt Yoga iii. 56 A large number of the exercises popular with physical-culturists in the West are taken from Yoga.
1915W. Owen Let. 30 Oct. (1967) 362 This morning we had ‘*Physical Drill’ under a special Gymnastic Instructor.
1838S. Smiles Physical Education 10 Here we may state what is the scope and object of a proper *physical education. 1858Southern Cultivator XVI. 32/1 The subject of physical education is beginning to attract attention. 1895W. Maclaren in A. Maclaren Physical Educ. (rev. ed.) p. v, It is now more than thirty years since the demand for systematized Physical Education began to make itself heard in this country. 1926Encycl. Brit. III. 141/2 Physical education..includes systematic and graded exercises chosen for their physiological and corrective results, folk-dancing, swimming, organized games and sports. 1960Where No. 3. 16 Physical Education (PE), the current term for what most parents remember as ‘gym’ or PT. 1977E. W. Hildick Loop ix. 54 A Physical Education teacher.
1817Cobbett Wks. XXXII. 362 It was a combat of argument, and they have taken shelter under the shield of *physical force. 1840Hood Up Rhine 165, I do wish our physical-force men would hire a steamer and take a trip up the Rhine. 1897J. McCarthy in Daily News 27 May 6/1 He was entirely opposed to any attempt at rebellion by physical force, because he held..that there was no chance for a physical-force struggle.
[1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. i. (1635) 4 The obiect in Geographie is for the most part Physicall, consisting of the parts whereof the Spheare is composed.] 1808J. Playfair Syst. Geogr. I. p. ccv, To narrate the appearances which nature exhibits to our view, and to give an idea of what is movable and immovable upon, and under the surface of the earth, is the province of *Physical Geography. 1852A. K. Johnston (title) Atlas of Physical Geography. 1866Brande & Cox Dict. Sc., etc. II. 898/1 Physical geography is the history of the earth in its material organisation.
1914*Physical metallurgy [see metallurgy]. 1935Williams & Homerberg Princ. Metallogr. (ed. 3) i. 1 Metallography is commonly subdivided into..(1) production metallurgy..and (2) physical metallurgy. 1956A. W. Chapman in D. L. Linton Sheffield x. 212 The faculty includes a postgraduate School of Physical Metallurgy in which the teaching is specially adapted to provide men from industry with instruction. 1965R. W. Cahn Physical Metallurgy p. v, Physical metallurgy.. is the root from which the modern science of materials has principally sprung.
1897Daily News 17 Feb. 2/5 To find funds for the foundation and maintenance of a national *physical laboratory.
1912B. Russell Probl. Philos. i. 18 The real table, if it exists, we will call a ‘*physical object’. Thus we have to consider the relation of sense-data to physical objects. 1952Mind LXI. 505 His only irrefutable position is to reduce his physical object claim to an announcement concerning his own sensations. 1954A. J. Ayer Philos. Ess. iv. 88 This procedure..serves to clarify the meaning of statements about physical objects by relating them to statements of a different logical form. 1973― Cent. Questions Philos. iii. 62 What Hume calls the philosophical account of physical objects differs from the vulgar account in that it distinguishes them from perceptions.
1831Brewster Optics vii. 66 *Physical Optics is that branch of the science which treats of the physical properties of light.
1857Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 343 The business of *physical philosophy is, to explain external phenomena with a view to their prediction.
1845Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) I. 60/1 That part of Grammar..is evidently Physical, and of course follows the common laws of *Physical Science. a1862Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 212 In the course of a few years Sir Isaac Newton changed the surface of physical science.
1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 107 The *physical signs pointed to fluid at the left base, and to enlargement of the right lobe of the liver.
1954*Physical therapist [see crash n.1 7 b].
1922Lancet 2 Dec. 1175/1 The first edition of this book appeared in 1910. Notable advances in *physical therapy have now necessitated the preparation of a second edition. 1973R. Kraus Therapeutic Recreation Service i. 19/1 In the fields of occupational therapy or physical therapy, professional training is carried on in close cooperation with medical authorities or educators.
1900Dialect Notes II. 48 *Physical torture, physical culture. 1920331st Field Artillery (U.S.) 417 The officers,..knowing that boat drills were something of a bore, attempted to make them more interesting..by giving us ‘physical torture’ at these times. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 173 One feels Lewis Carroll would have liked the current terms Physical Torture (for P.T.) and Religious Destruction or Ridiculous Kapers (for R.K.). 1968W. C. Anderson Gooney Bird iii. 35 The physical torture program..started promptly at 0630 every morning at Eglin Air Force Base.
1889Infantry Drill 11 *Physical training. In order to expand his chest, and develop his muscles, the soldier will be practised in the following exercises. 1910Street & Gooderson Handbk. Physical Training i. 12 Physical training at schools should provide for the stimulation of the physiologic functions of the body. 1926Encycl. Brit. III. 141/2 The model course, which originally consisted largely of military drill, has developed into the present Syllabus of Physical Training, based on the Swedish system. 1974Oxf. Jun. Encycl. (rev. ed.) IX. 270/2 In the forces and in club work the aim is to train performers in set exercises and vaults which..are the result of physical training as opposed to physical education.
Hence ˈphysicalness, the quality of being physical.
1727Bailey vol. II, Physicalness, Naturalness, also Medicinalness. 1857J. Hinton Let. in Life vii. (1878) 133 The inertness, the evil, that is added by our physicalness.
Add:[I.] [1.] d. Comm. Of a commodity: materially existing, actually traded or deliverable. Hence of a market, etc.: involving the immediate exchange of goods in their material form, as opp. to contracts for notional or future trading.
1946G. S. Shepherd Marketing Farm Products ix. 105 No physical grain is sold in the pits—nothing but paper contracts. 1949Baer & Saxon Commodity Exchanges & Futures Trading i. 12 For every staple commodity there are two main classes of physical markets: the primary or local markets and the central markets. 1981Times 1 July 21/2 A consumer buying physical metal from the LME could end up getting 99.9 per cent copper wirebar. 1984Times 25 Jan. 17/2 In the sugar trade there was a physical market representing the totality of sales and purchases otherwise than on the terminal markets which existed in London and Paris.
e. Comm. ellipt. as n. (pl.), (interest in) physical commodities or markets.
1974Times 5 Dec. 26/3 Rubber physicals closed easier. 1987Metal Bull. 10 Feb. 11/1 Nymex has expanded the flexibility of its platinum futures contract by changing the rules on the Exchange of Futures for Physicals. |