sanitary
[san-i-ter-ee]
- of or relating to health or the conditions affecting health, especially with reference to cleanliness, precautions against disease, etc.
- favorable to health; free from dirt, bacteria, etc.: a sanitary washroom.
- providing healthy cleanliness: a sanitary wrapper on all sandwiches.
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Origin of sanitary
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sanitary on Thesaurus.com1, 2. clean, germ-free, unpolluted, antiseptic. Sanitary, hygienic agree in being concerned with health. Sanitary refers more especially to conditions affecting health or measures for guarding against infection or disease: to insure sanitary conditions in preparing food. Hygienic is applied to whatever concerns the care of the body and the promotion of health: to live in hygienic surroundings with plenty of fresh air. 2. healthy, salutary.
Antonyms
1, 2. unclean, unwholesome; unhealthy, polluted, septic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sanitary
Contemporary Examples
He crosses the street and begins sweeping in front of the Sanitary Bedding Company.
When FLOs purchase a toilet, they agree to keep it well-stocked with sanitary products like toilet paper and soap.
Sanitary operations alone required 7,400 Port-a-Potties that collected the equivalent of three Olympic-size pools of pee.
But that's the Jersey Shore cast way—always keeping it classy and sanitary.
No implausible publication with “interpolated essays on the virtues of sanitary improvement” is beyond his sight.
Historical Examples
Take the case of a doctor who devotes himself to sanitary science.
The Stark Munro LettersJ. Stark Munro
Sanitary restrictions, seemingly so necessary in hot climates, were unheard of.
The Negro FarmerCarl Kelsey
The Sanitary Commission I preside over is not in favour with the populace.
Nostromo: A Tale of the SeaboardJoseph Conrad
Our law-makers control the sanitary conditions and pay of teachers.
It is possible that this rule may have had its origin in a sanitary precaution.
sanitary
- of or relating to health and measures for the protection of health
- conducive to or promoting health; free from dirt, germs, etc; hygienic
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Word Origin
C19: from French sanitaire, from Latin sānitās health
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for sanitary
adj.
1823, "pertaining to health," from French sanitaire (1812), from Latin sanitas "health," from sanus "healthy; sane" (see sane). In reference to menstrual pads, first attested 1881 (in sanitary towel).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
sanitary
(săn′ĭ-tĕr′ē)- Of or relating to health.
- Free from elements, such as filth or pathogens, that endanger health; hygienic.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.