clinic

cli·nic
C3L1I1N1I1C3
US, UK/ˈklɪn.ɪk/

noun

A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.

CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

nounclinic (plural clinics)

plural clinics · alternative obsolete clinique

  1. A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
  2. broadlymedicineA hospital session to diagnose or treat patients.
  3. obsoletemedicineA school, or class, in which medicine or surgery is taught by examining and treating patients in the presence of the pupils.
  4. A group practice of several physicians or other health professionals.
  5. A meeting for the diagnosis of problems, or training, on a particular subject.

    A local community group will be holding a legal clinic where low-income residents can consult a lawyer for free.

    1 more example

    We'll also be offering music clinics, lessons, and new product demonstrations throughout the year.

    1986, Music Trades, volume 134, numbers 1-6, page 38
  6. A temporary office arranged on a regular basis to allow politicians to meet their constituents.
  7. governmentA series of workouts used to build skills of practitioners regardless of team affiliation.
  8. obsoleteA bed-ridden person
  9. obsoleteSomeone who receives baptism on a sickbed.

    We are all Clinicks in this point

    1666, Sancroft, 'Lex Ignea 41
    5 more examples

    The conclusion is inevitable , that pouring or sprinkling was regarded, in the primitive church, as valid baptism; and of course that immersion was not considered essential. It has been objected, indeed, that the clinics were canonically prohibited the priesthood. But why were they prohibited? Not because of the informality of their batism; but because their sincerity had not been sufficiently tested.

    1833, Enoch Pond, Treatise on Christian Baptism, page 43

    Clinic baptism is all that is contemplated by them, and even in this case a clinic was, unless in unusual cases, debarred from orders.

    1861, James Chrystal, A History of the Modes of Christian Baptism, page 97

    Whitby (on Rom. vi. 4). —"It being so expressly declared here, and Col. ii. 12, that we are buried with Christ in baptism by being buried under water; and the argument to oblige us to a conformity to His death, by dying to sin, being taken hence; and this immersion being religiously observed by all Christians for thirteen centuries, and approved by our church, and the change of it into sprinkling even without any allowance from the author of this institution, or any licence from any refusal of the cup to the laity; it were to be wished that this custom might be again of general use, and aspersion only permitted, as of old, in the case of the clinic, or in present danger of death."

    1865, Richard Ingham, A Hand-book on Christian Baptism

    As "baby sprinkling" is an offence which it abhors, so Clinic sprinkling is a sham which it detests.

    1874, James Wilkinson Dale, An Inquiry Into the Usage of Baptizo, page 523

    And as the practice of immersion in baptism in the time of St. Laurence was universal except in the case of a handful of Clinics—so small that they scarcely deserve to be named—the story is unworthy of notice.

    1878, William Cathcart, The Baptism of the Ages and of the Nations, page 126

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱley-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ḱl̥néyti
  4. Proto-Hellenic*klíňňō
  5. Ancient Greekκλῑ́νω (klī́nō)
  6. Ancient Greekκλῑ́νη (klī́nē)
  7. Ancient Greekκλῑνῐκός (klīnĭkós)
  8. Late Latinclīnicus
  9. Frenchclinique
  10. Englishclinic

Borrowed from French clinique, from Late Latin clīnicus (“a bed-ridden person, one baptized on a sick-bed, a physician”), from Ancient Greek κλῑνικός (klīnikós, “pertaining to a bed”), from κλῑ́νη (klī́nē, “bed”), from κλῑ́νω (klī́nō, “to lean, incline”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic عِيَادَة, مَصَحَّة
  • عِيَادَة (ʕiyāda)medical facility
  • مَصَحَّة (maṣaḥḥa)medical facility
Bengali ক্লিনিক, চিকিৎসালয়
  • ক্লিনিক (klinik)medical facility
  • চিকিৎসালয় (cikitśaloẏ)medical facility
Bulgarian кли́ника
  • кли́ника (klínika)medical facility
Catalan clínica
  • clínicamedical facility
Chinese Mandarin 診所 /诊所, 醫院 /医院
  • 診所 /诊所 (zhěnsuǒ)medical facility
  • 醫院 /医院 (yīyuàn)medical facility
Czech klinika
  • klinikamedical facility
Danish klinik
  • klinikmedical facility
Dutch kliniek
  • kliniekmedical facility
Esperanto kliniko
  • klinikomedical facility
Estonian kliinik
  • kliinikmedical facility
Finnish klinikka, terveyskeskus
  • klinikkamedical facility
  • terveyskeskusmedical facility
French clinique
  • cliniquemedical facility
German Klinik, Ambulanz
  • Klinikmedical facility
  • Ambulanzmedical facility
Greek κλινική, ιατρείο
  • κλινική (klinikí)medical facility
  • ιατρείο (iatreío)hospital session
Hebrew מִרְפָּאָה, קְלִינִיקָה
  • מִרְפָּאָה (mirpa'á)medical facility
  • קְלִינִיקָה (klínika)medical facility
Hindi निदानगृह
  • निदानगृह (nidāngŕh)medical facility
Hungarian rendelőintézet, rendelő
  • rendelőintézetmedical facility
  • rendelőmedical facility
  • szakrendelőmedical facility
  • ambulanciamedical facility
  • klinikamedical facility
Indonesian klinik
  • klinikmedical facility
Irish clinic
  • clinicmedical facility
Italian clinica
  • clinicamedical facility
Japanese 医院, クリニック
  • 医院 (iin)medical facility
  • クリニック (kurinikku)medical facility
Korean 의원
  • 의원 (uiwon)medical facility
Latvian klīnika
  • klīnikamedical facility
Lithuanian klinika
  • klinikamedical facility
Malay klinik
  • klinikmedical facility
Māori whare haumanu
  • whare haumanumedical facility
Norwegian Bokmål klinikk
  • klinikkmedical facility
Polish przychodnia, klinika
  • przychodniamedical facility
  • klinikamedical facility
Portuguese clínica
  • clínicamedical facility
Romanian clinică
  • clinicămedical facility
Russian кли́ника, лече́бница
  • кли́ника (klínika)medical facility
  • лече́бница (lečébnica)medical facility
  • поликли́ника (poliklínika)medical facility
  • амбулато́рия (ambulatórija)medical facility
Slovak klinika
  • klinikamedical facility
Spanish clínica
  • clínicamedical facility
Swahili kliniki
  • klinikimedical facility
Swedish klinik
  • klinikmedical facility
Thai คลินิก, เวชสถาน
  • คลินิก (klí-nìk)medical facility
  • เวชสถานmedical facility
Turkish klinik
  • klinikmedical facility
Ukrainian клі́ніка, амбулато́рія
  • клі́ніка (klínika)medical facility
  • амбулато́рія (ambulatórija)medical facility
Urdu کِلِینِک
  • کِلِینِک (kilīnik)medical facility
Vietnamese phòng khám bệnh, phòng khám
  • phòng khám bệnhmedical facility
  • phòng khámmedical facility
  • phòng mạchmedical facility
Welsh clinig
  • clinigmedical facility

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with clinic

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

clinic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clinic

MLA

“clinic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clinic. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clinic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clinic.

Source: clinic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.