5 ms·

Which makes you wonder why a medical doctor is called that?

• Jensson 3y ago
  For the same reason social science is called science. When words start to become prestigious many will attach that word to what they do.
  • heyjamesknight 3y ago
    Social science is science. In what way is it not?
    • thsksbd 3y ago
      Lack of reproducibility results for one.
      • heyjamesknight 3y ago
        That's a problem in all the sciences right now: https://www.nature.com/articles/533452a https://www.nature.com/articles/533452a
• christudor 3y ago
  Because doctor comes from the passive doctus ('having been taught', i.e. learned) rather than the active docens ('teaching, instructing').
  • lou1306 3y ago
    Not really. Doctor means "teacher" in classical Latin.
    • FabHK 3y ago
      Good point. English has both actor (=someone who acts) and agent (=someone who acts) from agere = to act, and both doctor (=someone who teaches) and docent (=someone who teaches) from docere = to teach.
• thsksbd 3y ago
  Because physicians are licensed to teach the practice of medicine.
• riffraff 3y ago
  that's the root of the word. The original four-wise distinction seems to have been Doctor of Medicine/Law/Natural Phylosophy/Theology. Just different kinds of knowledgeable people. Interestingly enough I just realized in Italian there is an old word, "dotto" that literally would mean "someone who has been taught" but concretely is used in the sense of well educated, knowledgeable, wise, cultured. Bologna, the home of the first university, has the nickname "la Dotta", i.e. the educated one.