infirmary
Americannoun
-
a place for the care of the infirm, sick, or injured; hospital or facility serving as a hospital.
a school infirmary.
-
a dispensary.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of infirmary
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English word from Medieval Latin word infirmāria. See infirm, -ary
Explanation
An infirmary is a hospital, or the area of an institution that's used as a hospital. If you come down with chickenpox at summer camp, you might have to spend a few nights in the camp infirmary. While you can call a hospital an infirmary, you're most likely to do this if you're British and referring to a specific hospital, like the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Infirmaries are usually spaces within larger buildings that provide healthcare. Inmates go to the prison infirmary when they're sick, and soldiers get their checkups at the military base infirmary. The earliest infirmaries were in monasteries. The Latin root is infirmus, "weak or frail."
Vocabulary lists containing infirmary
Night
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Dear Martin
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He tossed batting practice, visited kids in the infirmary and signed autographs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2026
Working as a cook at the local infirmary, she attends a revival meeting that proves pivotal to her development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
Levi was too sick and Soviet troops found him close to death in the camp infirmary.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2025
“Every now and then, people had high fever. They were taken to the infirmary, then brought back, and that was it,” he said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
Mrs. F didn't say a whole lot as she drove me to my dorm, but she made me promise to go by the infirmary and get some cold packs for my swollen wrists.
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
A pediatrician, my aunt jumped into action: Building and running makeshift infirmaries for children and trying to create some form of order in the face of insurmountable — and ongoing — need.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2023
The injured were diverted to workhouse infirmaries to be treated after Swansea General Hospital was bombed.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2021
The tide overwhelmed camp hospitals, relief organizations built temporary infirmaries, and the Army converted barracks to house battalions of sickened men.
From Slate ● May 16, 2020
Cruise infirmaries can handle only basic emergencies, and modern medical facilities are often hundreds or thousands of miles away.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 2, 2020
Were the SS really going to leav e hundreds of prisoners behind in the infirmaries, pending the arrival of their liberators?
From "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
