Phys

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A school subject focused on exercise, sports and health ; the informal shortened name for the science that studies matter, energy and motion
2. Short for physical education, a lesson centered on fitness and games ; a casual abbreviation for physics, the study of matter and energy
3. Informal shorthand for a school course in exercise and sport ; a clipped name for the natural science concerned with forces and energy

Etymology: "Phys" is a clipping of "physics", so its story is really the story of the longer word. The root sits in the Greek verb "phúō", meaning "produce, bear, grow", and from it came "phúsis", "origin; nature, property". Ancient Greek thinkers used the adjective "phusikós" to describe anything concerned with nature, and the feminine form "phusikḗ" became the name for the study of the natural world, which is why physics once covered nearly all of science. That meaning travelled through Latin "physica" and Old French "fisike" before reaching English in the 1500s as "physic", which at first meant the art of healing as much as the study of nature. The "-ics" ending, marking a field of study, was added later, and "physics" as a name for the discipline of matter and energy appeared in the 1580s. The shortened form "phys" is a modern informal abbreviation, familiar from school timetables and course catalogues.

Synonyms: physics, physical education