médecin
/med.sɛ̃/
The French word for doctor is médecin.
médecin refers to a person who is qualified to treat people who are ill. To be more specific about a medical doctor, you can use the phrase Docteur en médecine. If you are referring to a doctor who provides ongoing care to a patient, you can use Médecin de famille, which is similar to the term médecin traitant.
Which one should you use?
While médecin refers to the profession of a medical practitioner, docteur is often used as a title of address or to refer to someone holding a doctorate. You may also encounter the archaic and rare feminine form doctoresse for a female doctor, though it is much less common today than using le médecin or la femme médecin.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Belgium, the term médecin is used both formally and informally.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of médecin is médecins. In French, you typically use a definite article like le or la when referring to a doctor in a general sense or when speaking about a specific one.
How do you pronounce it?
/med.sɛ̃/
Did you know?
- The word médecin is a back-formation from the Old French verb medeciner, which meant 'to treat medically'. This is an unusual linguistic path where the noun was created from the verb rather than the other way around.
- In older French, the word for doctor was often mire, which has almost no phonetic similarity to the modern médecin.
- In French, docteur is a title for anyone who has earned a PhD, not just medical practitioners. In an academic setting, you may address a professor of history or physics as docteur.
Examples in context
- Dis à ton médecin.Tell your doctor.This sentence is useful for telling someone to consult their médecin.Tatoeba #11964262 by Amastan, translation #11697493 by Amastan
- Je veux un médecin.I want a doctor.This sentence is useful for expressing a desire for a médecin.Tatoeba #4692214 by sacredceltic, translation #2011303 by CK
- Où est le médecin ?Where's the doctor?This sentence is useful for asking for the location of the médecin.Tatoeba #5662067 by Aiji, translation #2254661 by CK
- Mon médecin m'a prescrit des antibiotiques.My doctor prescribed me antibiotics.
- Demandez au docteur ce qu'il en pense.Ask the doctor what he thinks about it.
- Je vais voir le doc demain pour mon mal de tête.I'm going to see the doc tomorrow for my headache.
- J'ai rendez-vous avec mon médecin traitant cette semaine.I have an appointment with my family doctor this week.
- 618 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Nathan and Manon are discussing a medical appointment.
- NathanTu vas voir le médecin ?Are you going to see the doctor?
- ManonOui, j'ai un rendez-vous avec mon médecin.Yes, I have an appointment with my doctor.
- NathanEst-ce qu'il est gentil, ce médecin ?Is this doctor kind?
- ManonOui, il est très compétent.Yes, he is very competent.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry médecin, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries médecin, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
