Medicine refers to a substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way. It commonly describes a treatment or cure, the study of the cause, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease or illness, and the profession of physicians, surgeons and related specialisms; those who practice medicine, which gives the term a broader and more practical sense than a single short definition would suggest. Depending on context, it can also point to ritual magic used, as by a medicine man, to promote a desired outcome in healing, hunting, warfare etc, among the Native Americans, any object supposed to give control over natural or magical forces, to act as a protective charm, or to cause healing, and black magic, superstition, so the category can cover literal uses, related ideas, and more figurative extensions of the same core meaning. Taken together, these meanings present Medicine as a flexible theme rather than a narrowly technical label, covering the central idea people usually mean when they use the word while still leaving room for closely related senses that appear in real language. Additional shades of meaning include a philter or love potion, a physician, recreational drugs, especially alcoholic drinks, and to treat with medicine, which reinforce how the category can stretch across adjacent but still recognizable uses of the same term.
