See Also: Patient Zero(medicine)
in-patient(dictionary)
patient(dictionary)
Patient(law)
out-patient(dictionary)
Patient(medicine)
patient selection(medicine)
patient satisfaction(medicine)
patient readmission(medicine)
patient participation(medicine)

patient (iou)



patient adjective, noun, & verb. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin patient-: see PATIENCE noun, -ent.]
A. adjective.
Having or exercising patience (with, to, or towards a person, fault, etc.). ME.
Bible (AV): 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren..be patient toward all men. R. M. Benson We must form a habit of patient expectation. A. Cross You've been very patient with my bad temper. P. Gay His search..helped to school Freud in patient and precise observation.
Foll. by of:
a. Enduring or capable of enduring (evil, suffering, etc); tolerant of. arch. or poet. LME.
Evelyn Plants least patient of Cold. Wordsworth Streams that April could not check Are patient of thy rule.
b. Of a word, statement, etc.: capable of bearing (a particular interpretation). M17.
Church Times It is a carefully worded motion and..patient of many interpretations.
Special collocations: patient Lucy = busy Lizzie s.v. LIZZIE 4.
b. noun.
A person receiving or registered to receive medical treatment; a sick person, esp. one staying in a hospital. LME.
private patient: see PRIVATE adjective. voluntary patient: see VOLUNTARY adjective.
D. Carnegie More patients suffering from mental diseases in the hospitals.
b. A person who suffers (patiently). Now rare or obsolete. LME.
A person subject to supervision or correction by another. LME-M17.
A person who or thing which undergoes an action (arch.). Now chiefly Grammar, the entity affected by the action of a verb. Opp. agent. L15.
E. Underhill Baptism is a crucial act of surrender performed by the baptised, who is agent, not patient.
C. verb trans. & intrans. Make or be patient; refl. calm oneself. M16-M17.
patienthood noun the state or condition of being a patient L20.
patientless adjective having no patients E19.
patiently adverb ME.
patientness noun LME.