GC: n
S: Acadposit – https://academicpositions.com/career-advice/what-should-i-call-my-professor (last access: 3 June 2020); Quora – https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-a-doctor-at-a-university-and-a-professor (last Access: 3 June 2020).
N: 1. 1300, doctour, “Church father,” from Old French doctour and directly from Medieval Latin doctor “religious teacher, adviser, scholar,” in classical Latin “teacher,” agent noun from docere “to show, teach, cause to know,” originally “make to appear right,” causative of decere “be seemly, fitting,” from PIE root *dek- “to take, accept.”
Meaning “holder of the highest degree in a university, one who has passed all the degrees of a faculty and is thereby empowered to teach the subjects included in it” is from late 14c. Hence “teacher, instructor, learned man; one skilled in a learned profession” (late 14c.). The sense of “medical professional, person duly licensed to practice medicine” grew gradually out of this from c., 1400, though this use of the word was not common until late 16c. Middle English also used medicin for “a medical doctor” (mid-15c.), from French.
2. Different meanings as a noun and verb:
Christianity : an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church.
A learned or authoritative teacher.
A person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (such as a PhD) conferred by a university.
A person awarded an honorary doctorate (such as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university.
A person skilled or specializing in healing arts, especially: one (such as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice.
A medicine man.
As a verb: to give medical treatment to; to restore to good condition; to adapt or modify for a desired end by alteration or special treatment; to alter deceptively; to practice medicine; to take medicine.
3. In English, PhDcan be written with or without periods; both are correct. The trend today is to drop periods with abbreviations of academic degrees. However, many sources, including the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, still recommend the use of periods: D.
4. When you are addressing a person with a doctoral degree, it is considered more polite to use the title or the academic abbreviation PhD with the person’s name, instead of the simple courtesy titles Mr. or Ms.
Note: Do not use both the title and the degree. If the degree is listed after the name, the title is not used before the name.
5. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention Barefoot in the Park (1967) directed by por Gene Saks. There is a very funny moment when Ethel Banks thinks that an M.D. (medical doctor) took and left off her clothes at the dry cleaner, but Victor tells her that doctor Gonzalez is not an M.D. but a doctor in Philosophy…
S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=doctor (last access: 1 June 2020). 2. MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctor (last access: 3 June 2020). 3&4. TERMIUM PLUS –https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/wrtps/index-fra.html?lang=fra&lettr=indx_catlog_p&page=9e-8ycfVZx-4.html (last access: 3 June 2020). 5. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x87re11 (last access: 14 June 2022).
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