hospital-acquired
|hos-pi-tal-ac-quired|
🇺🇸
/ˌhɑːspɪtl əˈkwaɪərd/
🇬🇧
/ˌhɒspɪtl əˈkwaɪəd/
contracted in a hospital
Etymology
'hospital-acquired' is a compound word formed in English from 'hospital' and 'acquired', where 'hospital' refers to a medical facility and 'acquired' means 'obtained' or 'contracted'.
'hospital-acquired' was coined in modern English to specifically describe infections or conditions that originate in a hospital environment.
Initially, it simply described anything obtained in a hospital, but it has come to specifically refer to infections or diseases contracted in a hospital setting.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
describes an illness or infection that is contracted within a hospital setting, rather than being present or incubating before admission.
The patient developed a hospital-acquired infection after surgery.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/08/04 16:13