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WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD "DOCTOR" AND HISTORY OF THE WORD

I love word origins. The English language is rich for its use of words from different origins.

As a doctor, I wanted to learn more about the word, and so, here 'tis :

From MedTerms.com

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9237

"Definition of Doctor

Doctor: In a medical context, any medical professional with an MD, a PhD, or any other doctoral degree. The term doctor is quite nonspecific. A doctor may, for example, be a physician, psychologist, biomedical scientist, dentist, or veterinarian. In a nonmedical context, a professor of history might be addressed as doctor, an eminent theologian might be named a doctor of a church, and a person awarded an honorary doctorate by a college or university might also be called a doctor.

The word "doctor" comes from the Latin "docere" meaning to teach. A doctor was a teacher, especially a learned or authoritative one."

From Wikipedia:

"Doctor ( IPA:/ˈdɒktə/, Loudspeaker.png Audio (US) (info • help) ) is a word that has more than one meaning. It can mean a person who practices medicine or surgery[1], a person who practices dentistry, alternative medicine or it can mean someone who has gained the highest degree at a university[1] or in Australia and New Zealand to mean a cook at a camp.[1] The word doctor comes from Latin and means teacher. People have been known as medical doctors for over 4600 years since at least the year 2650BCE. In many countries the word doctor can only be used by people who are licensed medical doctors or who have the highest degree from a university.
History of the word

The first time the word was used in the English language was in 1303 and was used as meaning a "doctor of the church" which meant a person who knew a lot about religion. Doctor is a latin word that means 'teacher'[1] and is a form of the Latin word 'docre' which means 'to teach'. The first time doctor was used in English to mean a 'medical doctor' was in 1377 and was written as a person being a "doctour of deth" meaning a doctor of death (ie: a medical doctor).[2] The word was often used by the 16th century to mean a person who is a medical doctor and is found in William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.[3
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So, those who want to be purists about the use of the word "Doctor", need to give it back to being used only by those with a doctorate in theology.

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