patient

[pey-shuhnt]

noun

1. a person who is under medical care or treatment.

   Synonyms: invalid

2. a person or thing that undergoes some action.

3. Archaic.,  a sufferer or victim.

adjective

1. bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.

   Synonyms: calm, passive, resigned, long-suffering, uncomplaining
   Antonyms: hostile

2. characterized by or expressing such a quality.

   a patient smile.

   Synonyms: composed, self-possessed, unexcited, unruffled, serene, quiet
   Antonyms: agitated, impatient

3. quietly and steadily persevering or diligent, especially in detail or exactness.

   a patient worker.

   Synonyms: assiduous, sedulous

4. undergoing the action of another (agent ).

patient

/ ˈpeɪʃənt /

adjective

1. enduring trying circumstances with even temper

2. tolerant; understanding

3. capable of accepting delay with equanimity

4. persevering or diligent

   a patient worker

5. archaic,  admitting of a certain interpretation

noun

1. a person who is receiving medical care

2. rare,  a person or thing that is the recipient of some action

Other Word Forms

• patientless adjective
• patiently adverb
• patientness noun
• overpatient adjective
• quasi-patient adjective
• quasi-patiently adverb
• superpatient adjective
• superpatiently adverb
• unpatient adjective
• unpatiently adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of patient¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English adjective and noun pacient, from Middle French, from Latin patient-, stem of patiēns, present participle of patī “to undergo, suffer, bear”; -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of patient¹

C14: see _patience

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. patient of,

   1. having or showing the capacity for endurance.

      a man patient of distractions.

   2. susceptible of.

      This statement is patient of criticism.

Example Sentences

He’s never run a clinical trial, treated a patient or published academic research.

Read more on Salon

For patients like Sarah, the marketer whose career and family life opened up after her GLP-1 treatment, the transformation can feel miraculous.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some clinical evidence suggests that lowering fever might not always help patients and may even support the spread of influenza A viruses in humans.

Read more on Science Daily

Over the past ten years, emergency departments have seen a steady rise in patients seeking help for abdominal pain and episodes of intense or long-lasting vomiting.

Read more on Science Daily

Breast cancer patients suffered unnecessary mastectomies, delayed diagnoses and a lack of compassionate care at an NHS Trust in north-east England, the BBC has learned.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• calm 
• forgiving 
• gentle 
• quiet 
• tolerant