nosocomial
adjective
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Nosocomial is a word that usually occurs in formal medical contexts—specifically, in reference to hospital-acquired sickness. We hope you never encounter nosocomial as part of your own medical diagnosis, but if you do, you might want to remember that the term descends from nosocomium, the Late Latin word for "hospital." Nosocomium in turn traces to the Greek nosos, meaning "disease." That root has given English other words as well, including zoonosis ("a disease communicable from animals to humans under natural conditions") and nosology ("a classification or list of diseases" or "a branch of medical science that deals with classification of diseases").
Example Sentences
Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial covid rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 covid patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021 The MedPAR data was also used to calculate the national nosocomial COVID-19 rate of 1.7%, with 6,629 of 394,939 COVID-19 patients diagnosed with the virus that was deemed not present on admission. Christina Jewett, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Nov. 2021 See More Word History
borrowed from New Latin nosocomiālis, from Late Latin nosocomium "hospital, infirmary" (borrowed from Late Greek nosokomeîon, derivative, with the suffix of place -eion, of Greek nosokoméō, nosokomeîn "to tend the sick," from nósos "disease" + -o- -o- + koméō, komeîn "to take care of, tend") + Latin -ālis -al entry 1; koméō probably iterative derivative from the base of kámnō, kámnein, aorist ékamon "to labor, take pains, be sick," going back to an Indo-European verbal base *ḱemh2- "take pains, tire," whence also Sanskrit áśamīt "(s/he) became quiet," śaśamé "(s/he) has taken pains," śā́myati "(s/he) becomes quiet, fatigues, ceases," Greek akámatos "not resting, untiring" — more at nosology
circa 1843, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
nosocomial
adjective