Docteur and Médecin

Suki L.A0Kwiziq community member

Docteur and Médecin

Do they both mean the same thing? And if so, why does one of them change depending on whether you are a man or a woman, and one of them doesn't?

This question relates to:French lesson "Job titles differ in French depending on whether you're a man or a woman (nouns)"

Asked 22 hours ago

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Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Strictly speaking, docteur means the academic degree and médecin the profession of a medical doctor. However, docteur is often used in place of médecin -- just as in English.

Médecin is the same for both genders. That's just the way it is, no specific reason. Docteur is, traditionally, also the same for both genders. Recently, that seems to be a bit more fluid with doctoresse used as the female form, but I don't hear it used frequently.

Like04 hours ago

Suki L. asked:

Docteur and Médecin

Do they both mean the same thing? And if so, why does one of them change depending on whether you are a man or a woman, and one of them doesn't?

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