/ English Dictionary |
PATIENT
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The semantic role of an entity that is not the agent but is directly involved in or affected by the happening denoted by the verb in the clause
Synonyms:
affected role; patient; patient role
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("patient" is a kind of...):
participant role; semantic role ((linguistics) the underlying relation that a constituent has with the main verb in a clause)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A person who requires medical care
Example:
the number of emergency patients has grown rapidly
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("patient" is a kind of...):
diseased person; sick person; sufferer (a person suffering from an illness)
case (a person requiring professional services)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "patient"):
alexic (a person with alexia)
analysand (a person undergoing psychoanalysis)
arthritic (a person afflicted with arthritis)
hypertensive (a person who has abnormally high blood pressure)
hypochondriac (a patient with imaginary symptoms and ailments)
hypotensive (a person who has abnormally low blood pressure)
index case (the earliest documented case of a disease that is included in an epidemiological study)
inmate; inpatient (a patient who is residing in the hospital where he is being treated)
outpatient (a patient who does not reside in the hospital where he is being treated)
vaccinee (a patient who has been vaccinated)
Holonyms ("patient" is a member of...):
doctor-patient relation (the responsibility of a physician to act in the best interests of the patient)
nurse-patient relation (the responsibility of a nurse to act in the best interests of the patient)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Enduring trying circumstances with even temper or characterized by such endurance
Example:
please be patient
Classified under:
Similar:
diligent; persevering (quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness)
enduring; long-suffering (patiently bearing continual wrongs or trouble)
forbearing; longanimous (showing patient and unruffled self-control and restraint under adversity; slow to retaliate or express resentment)
patient of; tolerant (showing the capacity for endurance)
unhurried (capable of accepting delay with equanimity)
Also:
uncomplaining (not complaining)
tolerant (showing respect for the rights or opinions or practices of others)
Antonym:
impatient (restless or short-tempered under delay or opposition)
Derivation:
patience (good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence)
Context examples:
Her temper was now shorter than ever; but he had become more patient than ever and more solicitous.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Patients with this disorder may also have a thymoma (a tumor of the thymus) or an autoimmune condition such as lupus erythematosus or rheumatoid arthritis.
(Acquired pure red cell aplasia, NCI Dictionary)
“And I say east,” said my patient.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"But it is well to warn the patient occasionally of his condition."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
“Well, well,” said the resident patient, in a nervous fashion, “of course it is hard to say that. You can hardly expect me to answer that, Mr. Holmes.”
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Once only he paused in his patient investigation.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You need to be patient, for it seems talks will continue in confidential form until the end of March.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
A. xylosoxidans infection may occur in immunocompromised patients.
(Achromobacter xylosoxidans, NCI Thesaurus)
His sentence was pronounced, and I could only grieve and be patient.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
A very few lines from Edmund shewed her the patient and the sickroom in a juster and stronger light than all Lady Bertram's sheets of paper could do.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)