mèdiques

Mèdiques is a Catalan feminine plural word used both as an adjective meaning "medical" when modifying a feminine plural noun and as a noun referring to female physicians or medical practitioners. It derives from Latin medicus through the Romance evolution that produced Catalan mèdic (masculine) and the feminine form mèdica; the plural forms are mèdics and mèdiques respectively. The grave accent on è marks an open e vowel and indicates the standard Catalan orthography and pronunciation.

As an adjective, mèdiques appears in phrases such as "instal·lacions mèdiques" (medical facilities) when the noun it qualifies is feminine plural. As a noun, "les mèdiques" denotes women who work professionally in medicine, analogous to "els mèdics" for men or mixed groups. In contemporary usage, institutions often prefer gender-neutral or inclusive formulations (for example "personal mèdic" or explicit pairs) depending on stylistic and policy choices.

The term is related to other Catalan medical vocabulary such as medicina (medicine) and salut (health). Its formation and use illustrate broader patterns of gendered occupational nouns in Romance languages and the ongoing discussions about inclusive language in professional and administrative contexts.