Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data.
  • noun The opinion derived from such an evaluation.
  • noun A critical analysis of the nature of something.
  • noun The conclusion reached by such analysis.
  • noun Biology A brief description of the distinguishing characteristics of an organism, as for taxonomic classification.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Scientific discrimination of any kind; a short distinctive description, as of a plant.
  • noun As regards the precipitins, these bodies are formed as the result of immunization of animals with albuminous substances derived from individuals of a different species. When the resultant antiserums are then brought together with solutions of the albumins used in immunization, precipitates result. This phenomenon has been notably investigated by Tchistowitsch, Bordet and Wolf, Wassermann, and Uhlenhuth, and the underlying principle utilized in forensic blood-diagnosis. To this end the material in question (stains on clothes, wood, weapons, etc.) is first examined for the presence of blood by the usual methods (hemin test, spectroscopic behavior, etc.). If the presence of blood has thus been demonstrated, the question whether it is of human origin or not is next investigated by mixing a filtered solution of the material under examination with a small amount of blood-serum obtained from a ‘humanized’ rabbit, that is, a rabbit in which precipitin formation has been previously provoked by repeated injections of human blood-serum (hydrocele fluid). The mixture is kept in an incubator, at the temperature of the body, for a number of hours and is then examined. If a precipitate results, the blood-stains are presumbly human. The differentiation of animals of closely related species is, however, not possible in this manner, and the blood of a humanized rabbit will thus not only precipitate the serum of the human being, but like wise that of the anthropoid apes. In this manner the close relationship existing between different, species can be demonstrated, a fact which renders the precipitins of signal interest also to the biologist. See also agglutination test.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) The art or act of recognizing the presence of disease from its signs or symptoms, and deciding as to its character; also, the decision arrived at.
  • noun Hence, the act or process of identifying the nature or cause of some phenomenon, especially the abnormal behavior of an animal or artifactual device.
  • noun Scientific determination of any kind; the concise description of characterization of a species.
  • noun Critical perception or scrutiny; judgment based on such scrutiny; esp., perception of, or judgment concerning, motives and character.
  • noun (Med.) the determination of the distinguishing characteristics as between two similar diseases or conditions.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine The identification of the nature and cause of an illness.
  • noun The identification of the nature and cause of something (of any nature).
  • noun taxonomy A written description of a species or other taxon serving to distinguish that species from all others. Especially, a description written in Latin and published.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun identifying the nature or cause of some phenomenon

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek diagnōsis, discernment, from diagignōskein, to distinguish : dia-, apart; see dia– + gignōskein, gnō-, to come to know, discern; see gnō- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin diagnōsis, from Ancient Greek διάγνωσις (diágnōsis), from διαγιγνώσκειν (diagignóskein, "to discern"), from διά (diá, "apart") + γιγνώσκειν (gignóskein, "to learn").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word diagnosis.

Examples

  • YOU may like an independent panel telling you that your wait for your pain diagnosis is 3-5 months.

    Obama: 'If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out' 2009

  • The precision in diagnosis is greatly improved, and entirely new possibilities for therapy have been opened up via the hybridoma technique.

    The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1984 - Presentation Speech 1984

  • It is an absolute fact that some of the best shots I ever made were where neither I, nor any living man, could make what we term the diagnosis -- that is, name the disease.

    Doctor Jones' Picnic

  • Butt said that "diagnosis" is "questioned by those practising psychiatry ... (and) often is defined by persons who have neither training in nor experience with aberrant behaviour."

    Archive 2009-05-01 2009

  • Finding out about this kind of diagnosis is overwhelming.

    Perinatal Palliative Care 2010

  • These young doctors are particularly strong, as I understand, on what they call diagnosis, -- an excellent branch of the healing art, full of satisfaction to the curious practitioner, who likes to give the right Latin name to one's complaint; not quite so satisfactory to the patient, as it is not so very much pleasanter to be bitten by a dog with a collar round his neck telling you that he is called Snap or Teaser, than by a dog without

    Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851

  • These young doctors are particularly strong, as I understand, on what they call diagnosis, -- an excellent branch of the healing art, full of satisfaction to the curious practitioner, who likes to give the right Latin name to one's complaint; not quite so satisfactory to the patient, as it is not so very much pleasanter to be bitten by a dog with a collar round his neck telling you that he is called Snap or Teaser, than by a dog without

    The Poet at the Breakfast-Table Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851

  • On Athos the diagnosis is even more radical: the Western churches, in trying to humanize God, make him disappear.

    Pentecost in the East 2009

  • On Athos the diagnosis is even more radical: the Western churches, in trying to humanize God, make him disappear.

    Ecumenism 2009

  • All summer he has been in and out of the hospital and chemotherapy. so all he wanted was to go fishing, but he did not have the time because he was so ill from the treatment and exhausted. his diagnosis is terminal. i just want to give him a day he will never forget while he is still able to enjoy. we live in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    this is a strange request but my friend is dying and he has one request.... 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.