physics
/ˈfɪz.ɪks/ noun
Also a form of physic
Forms physicks
- noun The branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy. “Newtonian physics was extended by Einstein to explain the effects of travelling near the speed of light; quantum physics extends it to account for the behaviour of atoms.”
- noun The physical aspects of a phenomenon or a system, especially those examined or studied scientifically. “The physics of car crashes would not let Tom Cruise walk away like that.”
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Antonyms
Etymology
1580s; from physic (see also -ics), from Middle English phisik, from Old French fisike (“natural science, art of healing”), from Latin physica (“study of nature”), from Ancient Greek φυσική (phusikḗ), feminine singular of φυσικός (phusikós, “natural; physical”), from Ancient Greek φύσις (phúsis, “origin; nature, property”), from Ancient Greek φύω (phúō, “produce; bear; grow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear, become, rise up”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The science of nature, or of natural objects; that branch of science which treats of the laws and properties of matter, and the forces acting upon it; especially, that department of natural science which treats of the causes (as gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, electricity, etc.) that modify the general properties of bodies; natural philosophy.
Etymology [See Physic.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “physics”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details