infirmary

I1N1F4I1R1M3A1R1Y4
/ɪnˈfɝməɹi/

noun

A place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital; sickhouse.

Similar
hospital
OriginMedieval Latin infirmaria ← Latin infirmus →
Less commonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nouninfirmary (plural infirmaries)

plural infirmaries

  1. A place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital; sickhouse.

    There shall be provided an infirmary or a place for the treatment of sick detained person in every place of detention.

    2015, Minister for Home Affairs, “Regulation 7”, in Prevention of Terrorism (Detained Persons) Regulations 2015^(https://web.archive.org/web/20230828050603/https://lom.agc.gov.my/ilims/upload/portal/akta/outputp/pua_20150903_P.U.%20(A)%20206%20-%20Peraturan-Peraturan%20Pencegahan%20Keganasan%20(Orang%20Tahanan)%202015.pdf), archived from the original on 28 Aug 2023, page 92
  2. A clinic or dispensary within another institution.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna health facility where patients receive treatment

Similar
hospital
Broader
medical buildinghealth facilityhealthcare facility
Also see
hospitalsickbaysickhouse

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latininfirmus
  2. Medieval Latininfirmaria
  3. Englishinfirmary

From Medieval Latin infirmaria, from Latin infirmus.

More words from Medieval Latin, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὑγιαστήριον, νοσοκομεῖον
  • ὑγιαστήριον (hugiastḗrion)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • νοσοκομεῖον (nosokomeîon)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Arabic مُسْتَشْفًى, مَشْفًى
  • مُسْتَشْفًى (mustašfan)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • مَشْفًى (mašfan)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Basque erizaindegi
  • erizaindegiplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Bulgarian лазаре́т, кли́ника
  • лазаре́т (lazarét)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • кли́ника (klínika)clinic or dispensary within another institution
Catalan infermeria
  • infermeriaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Chinese Mandarin 醫院 /医院, 保健室
  • 醫院 /医院 (yīyuàn)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • 保健室 (bǎojiànshì)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • 醫務室 /医务室 (yīwùshì)clinic or dispensary within another institution
Czech špitál, lazaret
  • špitálplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • lazaretplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • ošetřovnaclinic or dispensary within another institution
Esperanto malsanulejo
  • malsanulejoplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Estonian laatsaret, arstituba
  • laatsaretplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • arstitubaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • kliinikplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • kliinikudplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • kliinikclinic or dispensary within another institution
  • kliinikudclinic or dispensary within another institution
Finnish sairastupa, sairastupa
  • sairastupaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • sairastupaclinic or dispensary within another institution
French infirmerie, infirmerie
  • infirmerieplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • infirmerieclinic or dispensary within another institution
German Krankenhaus, Krankenstation
  • Krankenhausplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • Krankenstationplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • Ambulanzplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • Krankenstationclinic or dispensary within another institution
Greek θεραπευτήριο
  • θεραπευτήριο (therapeftírio)clinic or dispensary within another institution
Hungarian orvosi szoba
  • orvosi szobaclinic or dispensary within another institution
Indonesian ruang kesehatan
  • ruang kesehatanplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Italian infermeria
  • infermeriaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Japanese 病院, 保健室
  • 病院 (byōin)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • 保健室 (hokenshitsu)clinic or dispensary within another institution
Korean 병원
  • 병원 (byeong'won)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Latin valētūdinārium
  • valētūdināriumplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Polish infirmeria, izba chorych
  • infirmeriaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • izba chorychplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • ambulatoriumclinic or dispensary within another institution
Portuguese enfermaria
  • enfermariaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Russian лазаре́т, медпу́нкт
  • лазаре́т (lazarét)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • медпу́нкт (medpúnkt)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • санча́сть (sančástʹ)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • лазаре́т (lazarét)clinic or dispensary within another institution
  • кли́ника (klínika)clinic or dispensary within another institution
  • диспансе́р (dispansɛ́r)clinic or dispensary within another institution
Spanish enfermería
  • enfermeríaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Swedish sjukstuga, sjukavdelning
  • sjukstugaplace where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • sjukavdelningclinic or dispensary within another institution
Turkish revir
  • revirclinic or dispensary within another institution
Ukrainian лазаре́т, медпу́нкт
  • лазаре́т (lazarét)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • медпу́нкт (medpúnkt)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
  • санчасти́на (sančastýna)place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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