Swedish edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Affix of sjuk (sick) +‎ hus (house), inherited from Old Swedish siuka hus. Attested since 1480. Cognate with English sickhouse, West Frisian sikehûs (hospital), Dutch ziekenhuis (hospital), German Low German Süükhuus, Sükenhuus (hospital), German Siechhaus, Siechenhaus (infirmary), Danish sygehus (hospital), Icelandic sjúkrahús (hospital). Compare also German Krankenhaus (hospital), Saterland Frisian Kroankenhuus (hospital), Old English lǣċehūs (hospital).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /²ɧʉːkhʉːs/
  • (file)

Noun edit

sjukhus n

  1. hospital; sickhouse
    Synonym: lasarett
    • 1772, Olof Bergklint, “Granskning. Satir.”, in Utile Dulci, editor, Vitterhets-nöjen. Tredie delen[1]:
      Ur dårhus för en klok, och siukhus för en frisk
      From a madhouse for a wise man, and a hospital for a healthy one
    • 1897, August Strindberg, Inferno[2], pages 56–57:
      [...] däri de berättade för mig att de hade varit allvarsamt sjuka och måst in tagas på sjukhus.
      in which they told me that they had been seriously ill and had to be admitted to a hospital
    • 2011, Henrika Andersson, Emma Gloria med lust och fägring stor[3], page 65:
      Jag kunde inte annat än hålla med honom, sjukhus gör mig sjuk.
      I could not help but agree with him, hospitals make me sick.

Usage notes edit

  • In contemporary Swedish both terms, lasarett and sjukhus, are used interchangeable. The choice of any particular term is, if anything, based on the name of the particular hospital itself. For exempel Växjö Lasarett and Carlanderska Sjukhus.
  • The general nonspecific term in media tend to be sjukhus.
  • In recent years more and more hospitals have changed their official name from lasarett to sjukhus.

Declension edit

Declension of sjukhus 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative sjukhus sjukhuset sjukhus sjukhusen
Genitive sjukhus sjukhusets sjukhus sjukhusens

Derived terms edit

References edit