Workup

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A series of medical tests or examinations performed to diagnose a condition ; a process of organizing or analyzing information or materials in preparation for a task
2. An ordered set of clinical assessments used to identify a health issue ; a systematic approach to study or arrange elements before proceeding
3. A detailed evaluation involving physical or laboratory tests to find the cause of symptoms ; an initial preparatory procedure to understand or handle a problem or project

Etymology: The noun "workup" is a deverbal formation, meaning it was made by taking the verb "work up" and turning it into a noun. In English, phrasal verbs of this kind (a verb plus a particle such as "up") often produce nouns by simple conversion, so the noun did not need a separate suffix or borrowed root to come into being. The verb "work up" itself has long meant to develop something gradually or to build a state of agitation or excitement, and the noun carries that sense of step-by-step development into the clinical setting. In medicine, a workup is the set of tests and examinations a clinician orders to reach a diagnosis. The idea is one of building up a picture piece by piece: blood tests, imaging, and history-taking are assembled until the cause of a symptom becomes clearer. The noun thus describes the process as much as any single test within it.

Synonyms: assessment, evaluation