patient
patient Lexical Profile
patient Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
"The teacher remained remarkably patient while explaining the complex algebraic formula for the third time."
• noun
A person or animal receiving or registered to receive medical treatment, care, or examination from a healthcare professional.
"The physician reviewed the medical chart carefully before discussing the test results with the patient."
In linguistics, the semantic role of a noun phrase denoting someone or something that undergoes an action or has its state changed by the verb.
"In the sentence 'The boy kicked the ball,' the ball functions as the grammatical patient."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse the plural noun 'patients' (people receiving medical care) with the abstract noun 'patience' (the capacity to endure delay or trouble without getting angry), as the two words are homophones.
• Rhymes for patient
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 14th century from Old French 'pacient', which derives from the Latin 'patientem' (nominative 'patiens'), the present participle of 'pati', meaning 'to suffer, bear, or endure'.