hôpital

Pronunciation

• IPA: /o.pi.tal/^[1]
• IPA: /ɔ.pi.tal/^[1]

Forms

hôpital m (plural hôpitaux)^[1] Old French ospital (about 1170), hospital (1190); hôpital in Pomey (1671).^[2][3][4] The circumflex is not pronounced, Littré notes.^[5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin hospitāle (“place of refuge, guesthouse”), the noun use of hospitālis (“of a guest, hospitable”) (as in “hospitalis domus”), the adjective of hospes (“guest, host”) (see hôte).^{[6][4][2][7][1]} In Medieval Latin it was specialised in monasteries for a charitable house (Bede, first half of the 8th century), and the word came into French through the monasteries.^[6][7] Littré notes that the Latin word had given “hostel” (now hôtel) in the regular way, and that “hospital” was remade on the Latin very early.^[5][1]

Compare Old Occitan hospital, Spanish hospital, Portuguese hospital and Italian ospedale.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Chrétien de Troyes' Érec (about 1170) an ospital is a charitable house, usually belonging to a monastery, where the poor and travellers were taken in.^[6][4] In 1181 the statutes of the Ospital de Jerusalem say it received sick men and women.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

Extended to lay houses, the word was close to hospice, and came to symbolise poverty: le chemin de l'hôpital (1640), être réduit à l'hôpital; it also meant a hovel (1704) and, in slang, a prison (1837).^[4] The medical sense appears in hôpital pour les malades (Pomey, 1671), but in classical French the word still centred on free lodging: hôpital des orphelins (1690), hôpital général (1704) for the destitute, hôpital militaire (1759).^[6][4] It was clearly distinguished from hospice only in the 19th century, from the beginning of which it has meant a public establishment that treats the sick.^[7][4]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Ospital, Chrétien de Troyes.^[6]
• 1181 – Ospital de Jerusalem.^[6]
• 1640 – Le chemin de l'hôpital.^[4]
• 1671 – Hôpital pour les malades, Pomey.^[6]
• 1704 – Hôpital général.^[4]
• 1759 – Hôpital militaire.^[4]
• 19th century – Distinguished from hospice.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hospital, a public or private establishment where the sick and injured are treated: être à l'hôpital, hôpital psychiatrique.^[9][10]
2. (historical) A charitable house that took in the poor, pilgrims, orphans and the sick, an almshouse.^[6][10]

Related words

• hôtel
• hospice
• hospitalier
• hôte
• Latin hospitālis

Usage notes

The familiar word is hosto.^[10] L'Ospital (1181) also named the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, founded in the late 11th century to serve the hospital of Jerusalem where pilgrims to the Holy Places were received.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert