Veterinarian

How to spell veterinarian

12 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce veterinarian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does veterinarian mean?

1. nounA medical professional qualified to treat the diseases and injuries of animals.

Veterinarian in a sentence

• The veterinarian examined the limping dog and recommended an X-ray.

• After years of study, she finally qualified as a veterinarian and opened her own clinic.

Where does veterinarian come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin veterinarius, meaning 'of or relating to beasts of burden', which was built on veterinae, the working cattle and pack animals such as oxen and donkeys that hauled loads on a farm or road. The root is thought to connect with vetus, meaning 'old', perhaps because the animals fit for heavy carrying work were the older, sturdier beasts rather than young stock. A veterinarius was originally the person who tended these working animals, and the sense gradually broadened to cover the medical care of animals in general. English took up 'veterinary' as an adjective in the seventeenth century, and the agent noun 'veterinarian' appeared in the early eighteenth century to name the practitioner. The long, unstressed middle of the word (the -teri-narian stretch full of faint vowels) is exactly where adult spellers stumble, often dropping a syllable or swapping the vowels around.

How the word is built

• veterin- (from Latin veterinae: cattle, beasts of burden)
• -arian (one who is concerned with or practises)