PHYS'IC, noun s as z. [Gr. from nature; to produce.] 1. The art of healing diseases. This is now generally called medicine. 2. Medicines; remedies for diseases. We desire physic only for the sake of health. 3. In popular language, a medicine that purges; a purge; a cathartic. [In technical and elegant language this sense is not used.] PHYS'IC, verb transitive To treat with physic; to evacuate the bowels with a cathartic; to purge. 1. To cure.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI