Residency

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛzɪdənsi/

Definitions

1. A formal program of specialized medical training for physicians occurs in a hospital, along with the official duration of living in a specific location
2. This is both a stage of advanced training for doctors at hospitals and a defined timeframe for residing in a particular area
3. A stage of postgraduate training in a medical specialty conducted primarily in hospitals ; the status or period of physically dwelling in a particular location

Etymology: "Residency" is a plain formation: the noun "residence" (the state of living in a place) with the suffix "-ency," or alternatively "resident" plus "-cy." Both routes lead back to the Latin verb "residere," meaning "to remain behind" or "to sit back," built from "re-" ("back") and "sedere" ("to sit"). That same root gives English "reside," "resident," and "president," so the word's ancestry is literally a matter of sitting in one place. The medical sense is a later, specialized development. Medical training in English-speaking countries came to involve living in a hospital for a fixed stretch after qualifying, so a "residency" became the period a doctor spent in that post. The underlying idea of staying put in one place carried over directly into this use.

Synonyms: domicile, habitation, residence, tenancy, home