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Glite Dictionary
hospitaller

hospitaller

1 9.9
A person in a religious order who cares for sick people and runs hospitals
  • noun
  • /ˈhɒspɪˌtælər/
  • Archaic
: hospitalario
  • Many hospitallers dedicated their lives to helping the sick in medieval Europe.

Examples

  • "Hospitaller tradition," he says, "avers that we were the only European group that was allowed to stay after the crusaders were defeated."

    Academic text (2002)

  • The hospitaller cared for the wounded soldiers during the war.

  • As a hospitaller, she felt a deep commitment to her patients' well-being.

Synonyms

infirmarian
vshospitaller
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who cares for sick people in a monastery

is a member of a religious order who runs hospitals and oversees wider care

Surface Forms

hospitaller singular
hospitallers plural

Morphology

hospitaller = hospital (semi-transparent) = hospital + er

The form clearly suggests a person connected with a hospital, but the specific historical sense of a member of a religious order is specialized rather than fully predictable.

Etymology

Hospitaller comes from the Latin root hospit-, from hospes, meaning 'guest', the same root in hospital and host. In the Middle Ages a hospitaller ran a 'guest house' for pilgrims and the sick, so the word now means a member of a religious order who cares for the sick.