Dentistry

How to spell dentistry

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce dentistry

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does dentistry mean?

1. nounThe profession or practice of diagnosing, preventing and treating problems of the teeth and gums.

Dentistry in a sentence

• She studied dentistry for five years before opening her own clinic.

• Modern dentistry relies heavily on digital scans rather than traditional moulds.

Where does dentistry come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Latin dens, with the stem dent-, meaning simply 'tooth', the same root that gives us 'dental', 'denture' and 'indent'. The immediate parent in English is 'dentist', which English borrowed in the 1700s from the French dentiste, itself built on the French dent 'tooth'. Once 'dentist' was established, English added the suffix -ry, a contraction of -ery used to name a trade or profession (as in 'chemistry' from 'chemist' and 'carpentry' from 'carpenter'), producing 'dentistry' for the practice of treating teeth. The word came into general use in the early 1800s as the profession became formalised. Knowing that the spelling sits on dent- (tooth) plus -ist plus -ry helps explain why the middle is dent-ist-ry rather than any shorter run of letters.

How the word is built

• dent (tooth)
• -ist (one who practises)
• -ry (profession/practice)