Etymologically
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patient

Etymology and origin of the French word patient

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1120, Psautier d'Oxford
Borrowed from
Latin patiens
Ultimate origin
Latin (patior)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.sjɑ̃/[1]

Forms

patient (feminine patiente, masculine plural patients, feminine plural patientes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin patiēns (“enduring, long-suffering”), the present participle of patior (“to suffer, endure”), used as an adjective;[2][3][4][5][6] the same verb gave pâtir.[4] patience was borrowed at the same time, about 1120.[5]

Compare Old Occitan patient, Spanish paciente and Italian paziente.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it of God, “who bears patiently with the faults of others”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In the second half of the 14th century it described someone who suffers adversity without complaint.[2] In philosophy Oresme (1370–1372) uses it for the one who undergoes an action, opposed to the one who acts (le faisant et le pacient), and the noun appears about 1380.[2][7] It became the word for a sick person under a doctor's care in the 14th century: Oresme writes that the doctor will not advise se il garira son pacient.[2][7] In a 15th-century case from Château-Thierry, greeting a man with Dieu gart ce paciant meant calling him a complaisant cuckold.[7]

From 1564 it also meant “persevering, untiring”, and, from 1617 (Aubigné) a patient was a man about to be executed.[4][2][8] The verb patienter dates from 1560.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Patient and patience in the Oxford Psalter.[5][2]
  • 14th century – A sick person in a doctor's care.[2]
  • 1370–1372 – “Who undergoes”, in Oresme.[2]
  • c. 1380 – As a noun.[2]
  • 1560 – Patienter.[5]
  • 1564 – “Persevering”.[4]
  • 1617 – A condemned man, in Aubigné.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Patient, showing patience: professeur patient avec ses élèves.[9][1]
  2. Persevering, untiring; of work, requiring patience.[9][4]

Noun

  1. A patient, a person receiving medical care.[1][2]
  2. (dated) A condemned man about to be executed.[1][2]
  3. (philosophy, linguistics) The patient, the one who undergoes an action, as opposed to the agent.[2][8]

Word family

  • patienter

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 16b
  7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Patient.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/patient. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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