Definitions

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

  • noun A place for the care of the infirm, sick, or injured, especially a small hospital or dispensary in an institution.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A place for the treatment of the infirm, or persons suffering from disease or injury.
  • noun More particularly
  • noun A general hospital for the inhabitants of a small town, or for the members of an institution, as a convent or school.
  • noun A bureau or office for gratuitous aid and advice to outdoor patients in general, or for the treatment of special infirmities or deformities, as of the eye, ear, throat, etc.

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

  • noun A hospital, or place where the infirm or sick are lodged and nursed gratuitously, or where out-patients are treated.

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

  • noun A place where sick or injured people are cared for, especially a small hospital; sickhouse.
  • noun A clinic or dispensary within another institution.

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

  • noun a health facility where patients receive treatment

Etymologies

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

[Middle English infirmarie, from Medieval Latin īnfirmāria, from Latin īnfirmus, infirm; see infirm.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin infirmaria, from Latin infirmus.

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