What does hospitalizing mean?
Hospitalizing is the present-participle form of hospitalize, meaning to admit someone to a hospital so that they can receive medical treatment and care. It can refer to formal admission for inpatient treatment, as in a report saying that a hospital is hospitalizing patients with a serious infection. The word can also be used figuratively or in specialized contexts, such as caring for injured animals in a hospital-like setting. It is less common than the related noun hospitalization, which names the act or result of admitting someone to hospital. Hospitalizing carries the practical and often slightly formal connotations of medical care, institutional treatment, and responsibility for a patient's wellbeing.
verbTo admit a person to a hospital for treatment and care, or to cause someone to become a hospital patient.
- To admit a person to a hospital for medical treatment and care.
"The doctor decided that the patient required emergency treatment and was hospitalizing her overnight."
"The hospital was hospitalizing several patients after the accident."
"She spent the evening hospitalizing injured wildlife in the temporary care unit."
Hospitalizing someone means more than treating an illness: it places that person under the formal care of a hospital.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of hospitalizing
The word derives from hospital, which comes through Old French hospital from Latin hospitale, meaning a place for guests or a lodging for the poor, ultimately related to hospes, meaning a guest or host. The suffix -ize is a productive verb-forming element used in English to indicate an action or process, giving hospitalize and the present participle hospitalizing. The related noun hospitalization entered English through the same Latin and French vocabulary.
Related word forms
How hospitalizing is actually used
This is the present participle of the verb hospitalize and is commonly used with an object or in progressive constructions such as “is hospitalizing.” In British English, the related form hospitalization is the standard noun; in American English, hospitalization is also common.