🧑‍⚕️ A hospital worker 🧑‍⚕️ A Navy medic 🛏️ A hospital resident

hospitalman

9.9

A person who lives in a charity home for sick people

noun

Archaic

: interno

The census listed each hospitalman residing in the town's charitable hospital.

Examples

Records from the old hospice mention a hospitalman who lived there for over a decade.
In the 18th century, a hospitalman often relied on charity for food and shelter.
The hospitalman was grateful for the care he received.
Many hospitalmen lived in the charity's care for years.
In the 18th century, a hospitalman often relied on charity for food and shelter.
Records from the old hospice mention a hospitalman who lived there for over a decade.
Many hospitalmen lived in the charity's care for years.

Synonyms

inmate

vshospitalman

337 3.5

A person kept in a prison, hospital, or similar place

is a historical resident of a charitable hospital or hospice rather than broad confinement

Surface Forms

hospitalman singular

hospitalmen plural

Morphology

hospitalman = hospital + man (semi-transparent) = hospital + man

Components signal a person associated with a hospital, but the historical sense 'resident/inmate of a charitable hospital' is a specific institutional usage not fully predictable by form alone.

Etymology

Hospitalman comes from hospital, from an old word for 'guest' or 'host', and man meaning 'person'. In older times it could also mean someone who lived in a charity hospital, so a hospitalman was a resident who received shelter and care.