Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Physical \Phys"ic*al\, a.
1. Of or pertaining to nature (as including all created
existences); in accordance with the laws of nature; also,
of or relating to natural or material things, or to the
bodily structure, as opposed to things mental, moral,
spiritual, or imaginary; material; natural; as, armies and
navies are the physical force of a nation; the body is the
physical part of man.
Labor, in the physical world, is . . . employed in
putting objects in motion. --J. S. Mill.
A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere
physical force. --Macaulay.
2. Of or pertaining to physics, or natural philosophy;
treating of, or relating to, the causes and connections of
natural phenomena; as, physical science; physical laws.
``Physical philosophy.'' --Pope.
3. Perceptible through a bodily or material organization;
cognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical,
opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.
4. Of or pertaining to physic, or the art of medicine;
medicinal; curative; healing; also, cathartic; purgative.
[Obs.] ``Physical herbs.'' --Sir T. North.
Is Brutus sick? and is it physical To walk unbraced,
and suck up the humors Of the dank morning? --Shak.
{Physical astronomy}, that part of astronomy which treats of
the causes of the celestial motions; specifically, that
which treats of the motions resulting from universal
gravitation.
{Physical education}, training of the bodily organs and
powers with a view to the promotion of health and vigor.
{Physical examination} (Med.), an examination of the bodily
condition of a person.
{Physical geography}. See under {Geography}.
{Physical point}, an indefinitely small portion of matter; a
point conceived as being without extension, yet having
physical properties, as weight, inertia, momentum, etc.; a
material point.
{Physical signs} (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily
state afforded by a physical examination.
Astronomy \As*tron"o*my\, n. [OE. astronomie, F. astronomie, L.
astronomia, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? astronomer; 'asth`r star + ? to
distribute, regulate. See {Star}, and {Nomad}.]
1. Astrology. [Obs.]
Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck; And yet
methinks I have astronomy. --Shak.
2. The science which treats of the celestial bodies, of their
magnitudes, motions, distances, periods of revolution,
eclipses, constitution, physical condition, and of the
causes of their various phenomena.
3. A treatise on, or text-book of, the science.
{Physical astronomy}. See under {Physical}.