Basic Details
Word: Medicine
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A substance you take to treat or prevent an illness; also the study and treatment of diseases.
Synonyms: drug, remedy, medication, cure
Word origin: Comes from Latin medicina, from medicus, a doctor.
How to Spell Medicine
Syllables: med - i - cine
Tricky part: Many people say med-sin, so the i in the middle gets lost. The c sounds like s, and the word ends in ine.
Watch out for: medecine, medisine, medcine
Memory tip: A medic studies medicine. Write medic, keep its i, and add ine: medic + ine.
Idioms and Phrases
- a taste of your own medicine: the same unpleasant treatment that you have given to others Example: "The bully who hid everyone's bags got a taste of his own medicine when his bag went missing."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Take this medicine twice a day after meals.
Example 2: My cousin wants to study medicine and become a heart surgeon.
Example 3: Keep all medicine out of the reach of small children.
Fun Fact
For thousands of years people chewed willow bark to ease pain. A chemical related to the one in the bark was made into aspirin in 1897.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
medicinne
a) i
b) n
c) c
d) e
Show answer
b) n. Medicine ends in a single n before the final e.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The doctor said the bitter nicedime would ease the cough within two days.
a) mezzanine
b) medicine
c) magazine
d) machine
Show answer
b) medicine. The letters have a d and two i's, which only medicine uses.
Spell-o-Spell
One word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. medecine 2. stethoscope 3. surgeon 4. diagnosis
a) a doctor who performs operations
b) an instrument doctors use to listen to the heart
c) a substance you take to treat an illness
d) finding out which illness a person has
Show answer
c) a substance you take to treat an illness. Medecine has an e where medicine has an i; think of medic + ine.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If someone gets a taste of their own medicine, they ____.
a) are allowed to choose their own doctor
b) are given a sweet syrup to drink
c) are treated as badly as they treated others
d) are asked to cook a meal for others
Show answer
c) are treated as badly as they treated others
2. Who among these would study medicine at college?
a) a future architect
b) a future chef
c) a future doctor
d) a future pilot
Show answer
c) a future doctor
