physics
noun/ˈfɪz.ɪks/
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”).
1
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.
- An analysis of media reports can correspondingly cast some light not only on how much physics is being reported, but on what branches of physics attract most popular attention.1994, A.J Meadows, M.M Hancock-Beaulieu, editors, Front Page Physics: A Century of Physics in the News, page 3:
2 more examples
- The physics of elementary particles in the 20th century was distinguished by the observation of particles whose existence had been predicted by theorists sometimes decades earlier.2012 March 23, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146:
- Daniel Hajas is a physics undergraduate at Sussex and has been blind since he was 16. He first heard about Giles and the SSDs when Giles was looking for blind students to test the devices.2017 October 10, Vanessa Potter, “My sudden synesthesia: how I went blind and started hearing colors”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025:
2
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.
- An analysis of media reports can correspondingly cast some light not only on how much physics is being reported, but on what branches of physics attract most popular attention.1994, A.J Meadows, M.M Hancock-Beaulieu, editors, Front Page Physics: A Century of Physics in the News, page 3:
- Synonyms
- physics
- Antonyms
- nonphysics
- Derived terms
36 terms
agrophysics, areophysics, atomic physics, atom physics, conceptual physics, condensed matter physics, cryophysics, cytophysics, electrophysics, health physics, hydrophysics, iatrophysics, jiggle physics, metametaphysics, metaphysics, multiphysics, nanophysics, oncophysics, paraphysics, pataphysics, physics envy, physics gun, physics-ly, physics package, physicsy, planetophysics, protophysics, ragdoll physics, robophysics, selenophysics, social physics, sociophysics, thermophysics, tribophysics, xenophysics, zoophysics- Related terms
- physical, physicist, space, time, matter, energy, force, mass, density, motion, velocity, acceleration, trajectory, pressure, potential, temperature, particle, wave
- Hyponyms
37 terms
aerophysics, astrophysics, attophysics, biophysics, cartoon physics, chemical physics, classical physics, econophysics, ecophysics, gastrophysics, geophysics, heliophysics, hyperphysics, macrophysics, metaphysics, microphysics, modern physics, neurophysics, nuclear physics, optics, particle physics, petrophysics, photophysics, physical chemistry, plasma physics, plasmaphysics, psychophysics, quantum physics, radiation physics, radiobiophysics, radiophysics, soil physics, solid-state physics, spacetime physics, tectonophysics, theoretical physics, thermodynamics- Holonyms
- science