physic

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfɪzɪk/
archaic

noun

[mass noun]
  • medicinal drugs: his servant’s venture into selling physic [count noun]: a physic for wives to give to impotent husbands
  • the art of healing: he was absorbed in all aspects of the study of physic and the human body

verb (physics, physicking, physicked)

[with object]
  • treat with a medicine: he told Mrs Webb he had physicked himself

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French fisique 'medicine', from Latin physica, from Greek phusikē (epistēmē) '(knowledge) of nature'