French term for a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or another practitioner who cares for the mentally ill.

"one who treats mental illness, 'mad doctor,' " 1864, from French aliéniste, from alienation in the sense of "insanity, loss of mental faculty," a sense attested in Engli [..]

Alienist is an outdated term that was used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to describe mental health professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists. It is still sometimes used to describe [..]

a psychiatrist who specializes in the legal aspects of psychiatry (as determining sanity or capacity to stand trial)

An alienist means a psychiatrist who is an expert in sanity trial. An alienist usually analyzes a criminal defendant’s capacity to stand trial. Earlier, an alienist meant a doctor specializing in ment [..]

(n) a psychiatrist and specialist in the legal aspects of mental illness

<specialist> One who treats diseases of the mind. Origin: F. Alieniste. (01 Mar 1998)

(obsolete) An expert in mental illness, especially with reference to legal ramifications. * '''1923''', Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Adventure of the Creeping Man’, Norton (2005), page 1644 *: “Speaki [..]