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Fysisk

Fysisk is an adjective used in the Scandinavian languages Swedish, Danish and Norwegian to describe things related to the body or to matter and phenomena that can be perceived, measured, or touched. It is commonly contrasted with mental or social aspects in everyday and technical language, where it denotes tangible or material qualities rather than abstract or psychological ones.

In everyday usage, fysisk appears in phrases such as fysisk aktivitet (physical activity), fysiska egenskaper (physical

The word is closely related to the scientific field of physics, which in these languages is typically

Etymologically, fysisk derives from the same root as the English word physical, tracing back through Latin

properties),
fysik
kropp
(physical
body),
and
fysisk
arbete
(physical
labor).
It
may
refer
to
bodily
sensations
and
health,
as
in
fysisk
smärta
(physical
pain),
or
to
the
external,
material
world,
as
in
fysikk
og
kjemi,
where
the
term
describes
the
physical
side
of
objects
and
processes.
denoted
by
fysik;
fysisk,
however,
describes
attributes
of
objects,
bodies,
or
phenomena
that
belong
to
the
physical
realm
rather
than
the
science
itself.
This
distinction
helps
separate
discussions
of
physical
attributes
from
discussions
of
theories
and
laws
in
physics.
physica
and
Greek
physis
(nature)
via
the
broader
family
of
Romance
and
Germanic
languages.
Across
Swedish,
Danish,
and
Norwegian,
the
term
functions
similarly
to
its
equivalents
in
English
and
reflects
a
broad
use
to
characterize
material,
bodily,
and
tangible
aspects
of
reality.