# patient

Pronunciation: say "PAY-shuhnt" /ˈpeɪʃənt/

## Noun

1. A person or animal that receives medical care from a doctor, nurse, dentist, or other trained health worker.
   - Simple: Someone who is getting medical care from a doctor, nurse, or dentist.
   - _The patient described her symptoms before the doctor began the examination._
   - _Several patients were transferred to the new wing overnight._
3. A person or thing that undergoes or is affected by an action, especially, in grammar, the participant that receives the effect of a verb's action.
   - Simple: A person or thing that an action happens to. In grammar, the one affected by what the verb does.
   - _Every action involves an agent that initiates it and a patient that receives its effect._
   - _For Aristotle, the change happens in the patient, not in the agent that causes it._

## Adjective

2. Able to wait, or to accept delays, problems, or difficulties calmly without becoming annoyed; also, showing calm, steady persistence in an effort over a long time.
   - Simple: Able to wait or keep trying calmly for a long time without getting angry or upset.
   - _She remained patient even as the meeting dragged past midnight._
   - _A patient gardener waits months for the first blooms._

## Adjective

4. Physically able to suffer or endure something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Strong enough in body to bear pain or hardship.

## Origin

From Middle English pacient, borrowed through Old and Middle French from Latin patiens, the present participle of patior ("to suffer, endure"), which may trace back to the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₁- ("to hate, hurt").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/patient (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).