Tricare

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A health care program in the United States for military personnel and their families that provides comprehensive medical services
2. A government-sponsored system designed to deliver medical benefits to active duty members of the armed forces, retirees, and eligible dependents
3. A federal insurance program aimed at ensuring accessible health care services for those connected to the military community, including active and retired service members

Etymology: TRICARE is a blend of "tri-service" and "care," and it is a modern coinage rather than an old word with a long pedigree. The name combines "tri-" for the three services that the program originally covered, the Army, Navy and Air Force, with "care," the plain English word for medical attention. The compound was built for a specific purpose: to name a single health program spanning several branches of the armed forces at once. The program it names grew out of earlier, separate military health arrangements, which is why the name signals three services working together. Over time its coverage expanded beyond active-duty personnel to include their families, retirees and others connected to the military community. The name stayed the same even as the program's reach widened, so the word now describes a broad system rather than the three-service arrangement its first half suggests.