hospice
[hos-pis]
- a house of shelter or rest for pilgrims, strangers, etc., especially one kept by a religious order.
- Medicine/Medical.
- a health-care facility for the terminally ill that emphasizes pain control and emotional support for the patient and family, typically refraining from taking extraordinary measures to prolong life.
- a similar program of care and support for the terminally ill at home.
Show More
Origin of hospice
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for hospice
Contemporary Examples
The next evening, Romero was saying mass in the chapel at the hospice where he lived in a tiny room near the infirm and the dying.
Why Pope Francis Wants to Declare Murdered Archbishop Romero a SaintChristopher Dickey
August 24, 2014
Thomas J. Foley died Friday in hospice care in Washington at age 84.
He has also demonstrated compassion for AIDS victims, washing and kissing the feet of 12 patients in a hospice in 2001.
The list also includes 14 hospitals, 14 assaults in schools, and even a hospice for the dying.
When I was first called and told that George McGovern was in hospice care, I was overwhelmed with sadness.
Historical Examples
M. Julien, will you run for the doctor, and send him down to the Hospice at once?
Chatterbox, 1906Various
I found him at the hospice, busy with his œuvre de bienfaisance.
Behind the BeyondStephen Leacock
He, himself, was billeted with a French family, just around the corner from the Hospice.
Life in a TankRichard Haigh
The hospice had formerly been a palstra or wrestling-ground.
The Death of the GodsDmitri Mrejkowski
In June, 1861, her simple funeral passed from the gates of the Hospice.
Female Warriors, Vol. II (of 2)Ellen C. Clayton
hospice
- a nursing home that specializes in caring for the terminally ill
- Also called: hospitium (hɒˈspɪtɪəm) plural hospitia (hɒˈspɪtɪə) archaic a place of shelter for travellers, esp one kept by a monastic order
Show More
Word Origin
C19: from French, from Latin hospitium hospitality, from hospes guest, host 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for hospice
n.
1818, "rest house for travelers," from French hospice (13c.), from Latin hospitium "guest house, hospitality," from hospes (genitive hospitis) "guest, host" (see host (n.1)). Sense of "home for the aged and terminally ill " is from 1893; hospice movement first attested 1979.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
hospice
(hŏs′pĭs)- A program or facility that provides palliative care and attends to the emotional, spiritual, social, and financial needs of terminally ill patients at a facility or at a patient's home.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.