Patients

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals receiving therapeutic care or medical attention for health-related issues
2. People who are receiving treatment from healthcare professionals for various illnesses or conditions
3. Individuals who seek and obtain medical services for diagnosis, treatment, or recovery

Etymology: "Patients" is the plural of "patient," and the singular carries the older sense of enduring, not of being treated. Its ancestor is the Latin verb "pati," "to suffer or endure," whose present participle "patiens" meant "enduring" or "suffering." English took the word through Middle English "pacient" and Middle French "patient," so the person in the hospital bed is, at root, simply someone who is suffering or bearing something. The medical sense grew out of that idea of undergoing hardship. A person who endures pain or illness became the one who undergoes it, and then the one under a physician's care. The meaning of patience as calm endurance and the meaning of a sick person waiting for treatment share the same source, which is why the two words sit so close together in English.

Synonyms: clients, sufferers, case, individuals, participants

Antonyms: healers, doctors, physicians, caregivers, providers