Definition

Noun: A person who is receiving medical care or treatment, typically from a doctor or in a hospital; a sick person.

Usage Examples

• (The doctor is examining the patient.)
• (The patient needs to rest.)
• (This ward cares for seriously ill patients.)

Advanced Usage

• The term bịnh nhân focuses on the state of being ill and under care. It is commonly used in medical contexts in Southern Vietnam. The Northern Vietnamese equivalent is bệnh nhân.
• It can be used in a broader, sometimes more critical, social context to describe a group perceived as suffering from a societal ill.
  • Những kẻ nghiện ngập được xem như là bịnh nhân của xã hội. (Addicts are seen as patients of society / society's sick people.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bệnh nhân (n): The standard and more universally used term for "patient" in modern Vietnamese, prevalent in Northern and official contexts.
• Người bệnh (n): A more general term for "sick person" or "the ill."
• Thân chủ (n): Client (used more in legal or service contexts, not medical).

Synonyms

• Patient
• Sick person
• Invalid
• Case (as in a medical case)

Related Idioms

• (Có) bịnh nhân nặng: To have a serious patient; often used figuratively to mean having a very difficult or problematic person to deal with.
  • Đội ngũ của anh ta đang có một bịnh nhân nặng về kỷ luật. (His team has a serious "patient" with discipline.)

noun

1. patient; sick-person