I found myself explaining to my 8 year old granddaughter why patient could be someone in the care of a physician and to be willing to wait!
How did we come to such diverse meanings or does it mean you have to be patient being a patient?
patient
Re: patient
And the doctor is still practicing, when everyone hopes that he is very good at it.
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Signature: All those years gone to waist!
Bob in Wales
Re: patient
Bob I felt you were being ignored. But if this doesn't work maybe it will give you an idea
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pa ... gle+Search
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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pa ... gle+Search
Re: patient
There is a wonderful old Sesame Street video about Big Bird going to the hospital with a bad case of "tweetitis". (The doctor on duty is played by the comedian, Robert Klein.) Big Bird and the orderlies and nurses sing a great song with a calypso beat:
You've got to be patient
To be a patient
Just relax, do what the doctors say
You've got to be patient
To be a patient
And when you're (they're?) done
You can go home and play
It's a guess, but I think the name "patient" comes from the continuous state of (patient) waiting one is in during illness and recuperation. Seems too simple.
You've got to be patient
To be a patient
Just relax, do what the doctors say
You've got to be patient
To be a patient
And when you're (they're?) done
You can go home and play
It's a guess, but I think the name "patient" comes from the continuous state of (patient) waiting one is in during illness and recuperation. Seems too simple.
Last edited by Shelley on Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: patient
Patient means in Latin 'suffering, enduring'. From patior. It has another meaning in linguistics where it means something like the logical object of a verb as distinguished from the grammatical one: e.g., The book was carried in a bag. Book is the patient in the previous sentence, but the grammatical subject of the passive verb.
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Re: patient
Interesting. So a patient is someone who is suffering (and hopefully will be helped by a doctor). And being patient is being able to suffer (though sometimes the suffering is not quite so huge, as in coping with having to wait five minutes before you get your sweetie) - which takes us to "long-suffering", which is also about being patient.
And in thinking about this I suddenly realised that we have a similar connection in Hebrew between patience and suffering - the Hebrew for patience is "savlanut" which comes from the same root as "sevel", suffering.
But for the medical context we have borrowed the word "patient" and just changed its pronunciation to "patz-yent" (stress on yent). Alternatively we use the word "cho-le" (rhymes with the Spanish "ole") which literally means someone who is ill.
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And in thinking about this I suddenly realised that we have a similar connection in Hebrew between patience and suffering - the Hebrew for patience is "savlanut" which comes from the same root as "sevel", suffering.
But for the medical context we have borrowed the word "patient" and just changed its pronunciation to "patz-yent" (stress on yent). Alternatively we use the word "cho-le" (rhymes with the Spanish "ole") which literally means someone who is ill.
Re: patient
But being patient, the adjective, seems to not be related to suffering; just not being anxious. So is there any relationship with the noun?
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Signature: Harry Sargent
Re: patient
Ah, but it is related to suffering. It is being calm and not displaying anxiety while suffering.
From Webster's 1913:
Having the quality of enduring; physically able to suffer or bear.
Having said that, I would also suggest that we need a new word to describe the large percentage of people who are under a doctor's care and, yet, display no patience at all. There's nothing like a long wait to bring out the worst in people.
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From Webster's 1913:
Having the quality of enduring; physically able to suffer or bear.
Having said that, I would also suggest that we need a new word to describe the large percentage of people who are under a doctor's care and, yet, display no patience at all. There's nothing like a long wait to bring out the worst in people.
Re: patient
How about impatient! Or M-patient for mad!
But this does bring up the question.... if patient implies suffering, impatient must mean not suffering?
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But this does bring up the question.... if patient implies suffering, impatient must mean not suffering?
Signature: Harry Sargent
Re: patient
Patient = able to suffer without grumblinghsargent wrote:But this does bring up the question.... if patient implies suffering, impatient must mean not suffering?
Impatient = unwilling/unable to suffer without grumbling
But another definition I've heard is: patience is doing something else in the meantime. (I try to apply this when my husband is late for things - not an unusual occurrence...)
Re: patient
Harry et al, The following etymology provides some additional detail including dates:
BARNHART CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ETYMOLOGY
PATIENT
adjective: About 1350 pacient, enduring calmly, bearing (pain, etc.); later, patient (before 1400); probably influenced in development by patience [[probably before 1200]], but also borrowed from Old French pacient, adjective, and later directly as a learned borrowing from Latin patientem (nominative patiēns), present participle if patī, to suffer or endure.
noun: About 1385 pacyent, suffering or sick person under medical treatment; later patient (about 1400); borrowed from Old French pacïent, noun.
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PATIENCE noun: Probably before 1200 patience, calm endurance; also later pacience (before 1250); borrowed from Old French patience, pacience, and directly from Latin patientia, from patiēns, present participle.
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Ken – April 11, 2008
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BARNHART CONCISE DICTIONARY OF ETYMOLOGY
PATIENT
adjective: About 1350 pacient, enduring calmly, bearing (pain, etc.); later, patient (before 1400); probably influenced in development by patience [[probably before 1200]], but also borrowed from Old French pacient, adjective, and later directly as a learned borrowing from Latin patientem (nominative patiēns), present participle if patī, to suffer or endure.
noun: About 1385 pacyent, suffering or sick person under medical treatment; later patient (about 1400); borrowed from Old French pacïent, noun.
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PATIENCE noun: Probably before 1200 patience, calm endurance; also later pacience (before 1250); borrowed from Old French patience, pacience, and directly from Latin patientia, from patiēns, present participle.
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Ken – April 11, 2008
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