Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hospital

/ˈhɑs.pɪ.tl̩/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.07 in modern English

Syllables
hos-pit-al
IPA
/ˈhɑs.pɪ.tl̩/
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A large medical facility, usually in a building with multiple floors, where seriously ill or injured patients are given extensive medical or surgical treatment.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A building founded for the long-term care of its residents, such as an almshouse.

Archaic; Countable; Uncountable

noun

A place of lodging.

Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable

adj

Hospitable.

Obsolete

name

A surname.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis Proto-Indo-European *pótis Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstipotis Proto-Italic *hostipotis Latin hospes Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin hospitālis Late Latin hospitālebor. Old French hospitalbor. Middle English hospital English hospital From Middle English hospital, hospitall, from Old French hospital (Modern French hôpital), from Late Latin hospitālis, hospitāle (“hospice, shelter, guesthouse”), from noun use of Latin hospitālis (“hospitable”), from hospes (“host, guest”). Doublet of hotel and hostel. Displaced native Middle English lechehous, from Old English lǣċehūs (literally “doctor house”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: hospital, hospitālis

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈhɑs.pɪ.tl̩/
  • British English: /ˈhɒs.pɪ.tl̩/

Usage

Inflected Forms

hospitals (plural) hospitale (alternative, obsolete) more hospital (comparative) most hospital (superlative)

Derived Forms

antihospital hospicentric hospitalise hospitalism hospitalist hospitalization hospitalize hospitalman interhospital intrahospital multihospital nonhospital

Phrases

base hospital children's hospital cottage hospital field hospital general hospital hospital bag hospital bed hospital corner

Frequently Paired Words

hospice hospitable hospitality hospitaller host infirmary nurse's office surgery

Synonyms

sickhouse infirmary

Questions

How do you pronounce hospital?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɑs.pɪ.tl̩/.
What does hospital mean?
A large medical facility, usually in a building with multiple floors, where seriously ill or injured patients are given extensive medical or surgical treatment.
Where does hospital come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce hospital

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hospital”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɑs.pɪ.tl̩/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hospital”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “hospital” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.