health check
compound.compound. a thorough exam by a doctor to make sure you are healthy. It can also mean a regular test to see if a business or a computer system is working correctly.
compound. a comprehensive physical examination intended to assess a person's general state of wellbeing. In a metaphorical or technical sense, it refers to a systematic assessment of the operational status or financial robustness of an organization or system.
I have a health check at the clinic tomorrow.
The company performs a monthly health check on its servers to prevent any unexpected downtime.
While the patient appeared fit, the routine health check revealed slightly elevated cholesterol levels that required immediate dietary adjustments.
A compound formed from the Old English 'hælp', denoting wholeness or sound condition, and the noun 'check', derived via Old French from the Persian 'shāh', referring to the king in chess. The term follows the established pattern of combining a subject with a diagnostic verification.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Often used metaphorically in business and IT contexts to describe a status audit.
Last updated July 22, 2026