mediche

Mediche is an Italian term that can refer to more than one grammatical usage. In everyday use it is most commonly the feminine plural form of the noun medica, meaning a female physician. Consequently, le mediche refers to women doctors as a group. The singular form is una medica (a female doctor), and the masculine counterpart is il medico with plural i medici (the male doctors).

Mediche also functions as the feminine plural form of the adjective medico when it describes a feminine noun. In this sense, mediche modifies nouns such as branche (branches) or discipline, yielding phrases like branche mediche or specialità mediche, meaning medical branches or medical specialties. This adjectival use conveys the sense of relating to medicine or medical science.

In broader terms, mediche appears in contexts discussing medicine, medical professions, or the medical sciences. It is distinct from medicina, the noun for medicine as a field of study or for the practice of medicine, and from medico, the masculine noun for a male physician.

See also: medicina; medico; medici; branche mediche; specialità mediche.

Notes: As a plural form, mediche is specific to feminine nouns or to feminine contexts; the masculine or mixed contexts would use medici or other appropriate forms.