Hygenic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. relating to methods that safeguard health by ensuring cleanliness and preventing the spread of disease
2. pertaining to the principles that promote health via cleanliness and the prevention of infectious diseases
3. Concerned with practices that maintain health by keeping things clean and free from illness-causing agents

Etymology: "Hygenic" is a misspelling of "hygienic," so the history below belongs to the correct form. The word comes from French "hygiénique," which in turn was shaped on the Greek "hygieinos," meaning healthful, from "hygieia," the name of the Greek goddess of health. Her name is the source of the whole family, and she is the reason the word points toward health rather than cleanliness alone. English once had another word for this idea. "Hygienal" was in use before "hygienic" took over, and the French form displaced it. The shift tells you that the modern sense of the word was settled by borrowing a continental form rather than by English speakers building it from scratch.

Synonyms: sanitary, clean, sterile

Antonyms: dirty, unclean, hazardous