Word
patient
Phoneticspa·tient
US/ˈpeɪʃənt/
UK/pˈeɪʃənt/
Definitions
01willing to wait
adj. able to stay calm and wait for a long time without getting angry.
adj. demonstrating the ability to endure waiting, delay, or frustration without becoming annoyed or upset.
“You need to be patient with the new students while they learn the rules.”
“The negotiator remained remarkably patient throughout the twelve-hour session, refusing to let the other side's provocations break his composure.”
Usage
Often followed by the preposition 'with' when referring to people.
02medical recipient
n. a person who is receiving medical treatment from a doctor or hospital.
n. an individual receiving medical, dental, or psychiatric treatment or care.
“The doctor spent twenty minutes talking to each patient in the waiting room.”
“The hospital implemented a new digital system to track patient records more efficiently across different departments.”
Usage
Countable noun.
Synonyms
03grammar role
n. the person or thing in a sentence that receives the action of a verb.
n. the semantic role of an entity that is acted upon or has its state changed by the action of a verb.
“In the sentence 'The ball was kicked', the ball is the patient.”
“Linguistic analysis often distinguishes between the grammatical object and the semantic patient, especially when examining passive voice constructions.”
Technical · Academic
Usage
Used in the context of thematic relations and semantic roles.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Real-World Examples
“Jean (not her real name), a nurse at a London hospital, reports: “We have some fans, but not enough for all the patients.” “Bide your time, be patient and your moment will come.” “Another nurse, working in a community health centre in England, said: “It gets to the point you dread going to work, especially when wearing PPE and providing patient care.” “WHO reported that between 60 to 70 per cent of Ebola deaths occur in communities, and that many patients can’t been seen by a doctor until it is too late.” Etymology
From Middle English pacient, from Middle French patient, from Old French pacient, from Latin patiens, present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate, hurt”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Related words
Idioms
doctors make the worst patients — It is difficult to advise people on subjects that they are experts on.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/patient