A paediatrician is a medical doctor who specializes in the health, growth, and development of infants, children, and adolescents. They diagnose, treat, and prevent childhood illnesses, provide routine checkups, vaccinations, and guidance for parents on growth and wellness. The term combines “paediatric” (child-specific) with “-ician” denoting a practitioner. Often abbreviated as “pediatrician.”
"The paediatrician scheduled a wellness visit to monitor my toddler’s growth."
"After the fever persisted, we consulted the paediatrician for a thorough examination."
"She trained as a paediatrician and now runs a pediatric clinic."
"The paediatrician recommended a vaccination schedule tailored to the child’s age."
Paediatrician derives from the Greek paia, meaning child, and iatros, meaning physician or healer, combined with the French suffix -ique to form paed- or pedi- in modern spellings, and -ician denoting a practitioner. The spelling Paediatrician follows British English conventions; American English uses Pediatrician. The earliest uses trace to late 19th and early 20th centuries as medical specialization in pediatrics emerged. The root paed- enters English through medical Latin pedi- from Greek pais, pais, paidos (child). Iatros is Greek for healer. Over time, pediatrics became a formal field, and practitioners in this domain were identified as pediatricians (United States) or paediatricians (UK and other Commonwealth countries), with the term gradually standardized in medical literature and medical schools worldwide. The pronunciation, stresses, and syllable boundaries evolved as English orthography adapted to clinical nomenclature, but the underlying Greek roots remain consistent: paedi- or pedi-, -atric- from iatr- (treatment) and -an/-ian suffix indicating a person belonging to a field. First known usage appears in professional medical texts circa 1800s–1900s, with widespread adoption in the 20th century as pediatrics formalized in medical curricula and journals. Today, the term is universally recognized, though spelling and some pronunciation variants persist regionally.
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Words that rhyme with "Paediatrician"
-ian sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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US: /ˌpiːdiəˈtrɪən/; UK/ Commonwealth: /ˌpɛdiəˈtraɪən/. Primary stress falls on the third syllable in both, with a secondary stress on the first in many speakers. Start with “pee” (long E), followed by “dee” (unstressed schwa-like /diə/), then “a” as /ə/ or /ə/ before “trian” where /trɪən/ or /traɪən/ emerges. Tip: keep the carrier syllable light, then hit the strong -trian ending crisply.
Two frequent errors: 1) misplacing stress, saying paediatr- with stress on the first syllable instead of -trian. 2) conflating the -t- and -ri- into a single quick consonant cluster; you should clearly articulate /trɪən/ or /traɪən/ after the a- sound. Correction: practice as paed-i-æ- trick? No—focus on the middle syllable as a light, unstressed /ə/ then a clean /trɪən/ or /traɪən/.
US tends toward /ˌpiːdiəˈtrɪən/ with a long E in ‘pedi-’ and a sharper /trɪən/ at the end. UK/AU often use /ˌpɛdiəˈtraɪən/ or /ˌpɪdiəˈtraɪən/, with a flatter vowel in the first syllables and a more defined /aɪ/ or /aɪən/ in the final cluster depending on speaker. The rhoticity is non-rhotic in UK; rhotic in US, so the r may be less pronounced in UK speech.
Key challenges: the thin, unstressed middle vowel in /d iə/ and the fast cluster /trɪən/ or /traɪən/ can blur when you speak. The mixing of long E in ‘pedi-’ with a soft mid-labeled second syllable makes the rhythm tricky. Also, regionally, the second syllable can reduce to a schwa, shifting the expected /diə/ to /də/ and affecting overall intelligibility.
Unique aspect: the sequence /diə/ in the second syllable can be realized as either /diə/ (clear two-vowel sequence) or reduced to /də/ depending on speaker. In rapid speech, many say pa·di·a·trian with a light, almost elided /ə/ between /d/ and /tr/. Maintain two-syllable boundary between pa-e and di-a; avoid slurring the /t/ into the following /r/.
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