nosocomial

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English

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WOTD – 12 December 2023

Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Late Latin nosocomīum (“hospital, infirmary”) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).[1] Nosocomīum is borrowed from Ancient Greek νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeîon, “hospital, infirmary”), from νοσοκομέω (nosokoméō, “to tend the sick”) + -εῖον (-eîon, suffix forming nouns denoting places); νοσοκομέω (nosokoméō) is from νόσος (nósos, “disease, illness, sickness”) (further etymology uncertain) + κομέω (koméō, “to take care of, look after, tend”) (from Proto-Indo-European *kem(H)- (“to be tired; to exert oneself”)).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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nosocomial (not comparable) (formal)

  1. (pathology) Of an infection or its cause: arising from the environment of, or treatment in, a hospital. [from early 19th c.]
    Hypernym: iatrogenic
    • 1815 November, S[ebald] J[ustinus] Brugmans, “Memoir on the State and Composition of the Atmosphere, Considered as the Cause of the Hospital Gangrene, or Putrescence among the Wounded”, in The London Medical and Physical Journal. […], volume XXXIV, number 5 (number 201 overall), London: Printed for the proprietors, by J. and C. Adlard, […]; published by J. Souter, […], →OCLC, § 10.2, page 398:
      It is a febrile disease accompanied by symptoms quite peculiar to it. […] There is a peculiar conformity between it and nosocomial fever, or typhus of prisons, described by Pringle [i.e., Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet], a disease of a complicated nature, and named by Pinal adynamic & ataxic fever. We shall soon see that both may originate from analogous causes, and that a contagion not being sufficiently strong for developing the true nosocomial fever among healthy persons, may, nevertheless, produce hospital gangrene.
    • 1861 August 31, [Charles Louis Alphonse] Laveran, anonymous transl., “[Progress of Medical Science. Selections from Foreign Journals.] On an Epidemic of Measles at Val de Gr[â]ce.”, in The Medical Times and Gazette. A Journal of Medical Science, Literature, Criticism, and News, volume II, number 583, London: John Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 229, column 1:
      Professor Laveran furnishes this narration as a specimen of the injurious effects which nosocomial influences exert upon otherwise benign affections. The return of troops from the Italian war had the effect of producing great accumulations of troops in the military Hospitals. […] [W]e find that some [febrile diseases], as malarial diseases for example, are benefited by the very fact of residence within an Hospital, and are but little subjected to nosocomial influences.
    • 1880 October 20, Jules Rochard, translated by B. A. Watson, “[Translations. From the French.] New Modes of Surgical Treatment. (‘Histoire de la Chirurgie Française’ par le Docteur Jules Rochard. Edit. 1875.)”, in Tho[ma]s F. Rumbold, editor, The Saint Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, volume XXXIX, number 8, St. Louis, Mo.: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 488:
      Gosselin discovered that this mode of [raw cotton] dressing was not a certain prophylactic against nosocomial intoxication, because he saw a patient die of purulent infection, whose limb had been amputated in his service, and in another case an attack of erysipelas followed.
    • 1984 November, Robert A. Berenson, “Outcomes of Intensive Care: Medical Benefits and Cost Effectiveness”, in Intensive Care Units (ICUs): Clinical Outcomes, Costs, and Decisionmaking (Health Technology Case Study; 28), Washington, D.C.: Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States, →OCLC, page 40:
      Nosocomial infections are infections occurring during hospitalization that were not present, and not incubating, at the time of hospital admission […]. All patients in an ICU are at increased risk of developing nosocomial infections […].
    • 1988 June, Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States, “Adverse Events”, in The Quality of Medical Care: Information for Consumers (OTA-H-386), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 109, column 1:
      The most common nosocomial infections are urinary tract infections (42 percent), followed by surgical wound infections (24 percent), pneumonia (10 percent), and infections of the bloodstream (bacteremia) (5 percent). […] Almost three-quarters of nosocomial infections occur among patients undergoing surgery […] The most difficult obstacle to the reliable measurement of nosocomial infections is the lack of standardized case finding.
    • 2014, Elizabeth K. Hoddeson, Sarah K. Wise, “Acute Rhinosinusitis”, in Jonas T. Johnson, Clark A. Rosen, Bailey’s Head and Neck Surgery—Otolaryngology, 5th edition, volume 1, Baltimore, Md., Philadelphia, Pa.: Wolters Kluwer Health; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, section III (Rhinology and Allergy), page 512, column 2:
      For many years we have known that patients at high risk for nosocomial rhinosinusitis are those who require extended periods of intensive care with prolonged endotracheal intubation or nasogastric tubing […]. Nasotracheal intubation has a higher risk for nosocomial sinusitis than orotracheal intubation […].
  2. (medicine, uncommon) Of, relating to, or happening in a hospital.
    • 1868 February 8, “The Late M. Serres”, in James G. Wakley, editor, The Lancet: A Journal of British and Foreign Medicine, Physiology, Surgery, Chemistry, Public Health, Criticism, and News, volume I, London: George Fall, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 208, column 1:
      In 1822 he [Étienne Serres] left the Hôtel Dieu for La Pitié, where he remained until he had attained the legal limit of age which compels the nosocomial physicians and surgeons of Paris to retire from office. At this point terminates the strictly medical part of M. Serres' career, during which he gained great distinction as a nosocomial physician, and published several works of value.
    • 1922 July, H. B. Balthaser, “Canine, Feline and Avian Practice: Valuable Airedale Recovers from Fracture of the Thoracic Vertebra”, in L. A. Merillat, D. M. Campbell, editors, Veterinary Medicine, volume XVII, number 7, Chicago, Ill.: Veterinary Magazine Corporation, →OCLC, page 381:
      I immediately set the bones and applied a temporary bandage, then took the dog to my private hospital […] Unique Nosocomial Treatment [section heading] After this, I applied a bandage-padded pack, reaching from the top of the shoulders to the root of the tail to prevent arching movements of the back, […]
    • 1980, Ann-Marie Göransson, “Cholegraphy: Its Applicability and Reliability in Connection with Gall-stone Operations: a Follow-up Study of 534 Patients Operated on Because of Cholelithiasis”, in Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica: Supplementum, volume 496, Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell Periodical Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, pages 1–95:
      It is also in part the nosocomial treatment schedules that have drawn our attention to this important field. I suggest that with shock lung we are dealing with a problem of multiple organ failure, not just the lung.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “nosocomial, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; compare “nosocomial, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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From nosocomi (“hospital”, from Ancient Greek νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeîon)) +‎ -al (“-al”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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nosocomial m or f (masculine and feminine plural nosocomials)

  1. (relational) hospital; nosocomial

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From Late Latin nosocomīum (“hospital”) +‎ -al, from Ancient Greek νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeîon).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /nɔ.zɔ.kɔ.mjal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: no‧so‧co‧mial

Adjective

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nosocomial (feminine nosocomiale, masculine plural nosocomiaux, feminine plural nosocomiales)

  1. (relational) hospital; nosocomial
  2. (medicine) nosocomial (arising from hospital treatment)

Spanish

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Etymology

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From nosocomio (“hospital”) +‎ -al (“-al”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /nosokoˈmjal/ [no.so.koˈmjal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: no‧so‧co‧mial

Adjective

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nosocomial m or f (masculine and feminine plural nosocomiales)

  1. nosocomial (relating to a hospital)

Further reading

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