Etymology

sickhouse

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Today it means: A place where sick or injured people are cared for; a hospital. Full definition →

Middle English sykhous
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromsykhous
  2. English todaysickhouse

From Middle English sykhous, sek hous (“hospital”, literally “the house for the sick”), equivalent to sick + house. Cognate with Dutch ziekenhuis (“hospital”), German Low German Süükhuus, Sükenhuus (“hospital”), Norwegian sykehus (“hospital”), German Siechhaus, Siechenhaus (“infirmary”), Danish sygehus (“hospital”), Swedish sjukhus (“hospital”), Icelandic sjúkrahús (“hospital”), West Frisian sikehûs (“hospital”). Compare also German Krankenhaus (“hospital”), Saterland Frisian Kroankenhuus (“hospital”), and Old English lǣċehūs (“hospital”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.