A Patient Is Literally One Who Suffers
Patient means enduring delay calmly, and a patient is someone receiving medical care. One Latin verb about suffering produced both.
Patient as an adjective means able to endure delay without complaint. As a noun it names someone under medical care, and the two are the same word: Latin *pati*, to suffer or undergo. A patient is one who undergoes treatment — the sense of enduring is built into the job title.
- Able to wait calmly. *Be patient with her.*
- Someone receiving medical care. *The patient is stable.*
- Persistent and careful. *Patient research over decades.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | patient | A patient teacher. |
| Noun | patient | An outpatient. |
| Adverb | patiently | Waiting patiently. |
| Noun | patience | Endless patience. |
| Opposite | impatient | Growing impatient. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Please be patient; we are short-staffed.The adjective.
- The patient was discharged on Friday.The noun.
- Patience is not the same as passivity.A distinction worth keeping.
Kinds of patient
- Inpatient — admitted and staying overnight
- Outpatient — treated without being admitted
- Day patient — admitted and discharged the same day
- Triage — sorting patients by urgency
- Patience — also the British name for the card game Americans call solitaire
From Latin *patiens*, bearing or enduring, the present participle of *pati*, to suffer. The medical noun came into English in the fourteenth century.
Patience or patients?
Patience is the quality. Patients are the people. They sound identical, which is why the mistake is so common in hospital signage.
Inpatient or outpatient?
An inpatient occupies a bed overnight. An outpatient attends for treatment and goes home the same day.