Meaning & use
hospitalisation
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablemedical
The act of admitting someone to a hospital for treatment, or the period they spend there.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general idea: hospitalisation was needed; countable for a stay: two hospitalisations last year.
Patterns
- require hospitalisation
- hospitalisation for something
The infection was serious enough to require hospitalisation.
His hospitalisation lasted nearly three weeks.
The rate of hospitalisation fell after the vaccine was introduced.
noununcountabletechnical
The overall number or rate of people admitted to hospital with a condition, used in health statistics.
Grammar: Used without an or a when talking about numbers: hospitalisation rose last winter.
Patterns
- hospitalisation rates
- hospitalisation among something
Hospitalisation among older adults rose sharply in January.
Researchers compared hospitalisation between the two groups.
Cuts to funding could lead to more hospitalisation.
Word forms
| plural | hospitalisations |
|---|
Common combinations
- require hospitalisation
- Most patients do not require hospitalisation.
- avoid hospitalisation
- Early treatment helps people avoid hospitalisation.
- hospitalisation rate
- The hospitalisation rate dropped last month.
- prolonged hospitalisation
- Prolonged hospitalisation can be hard on families.
- risk of hospitalisation
- The risk of hospitalisation is higher for older people.
Synonyms and how they differ
- admission
- Admission is the moment of being taken in, whereas hospitalisation also covers the whole stay.
- inpatient care
- Inpatient care describes the treatment itself, while hospitalisation focuses on being in hospital.
- confinement
- Confinement suggests being kept in, and is not a normal medical term for a hospital stay.
Opposites
Word family
- hospitalise verb
- to admit someone to hospital
- hospitalised adjective
- admitted to or being treated in a hospital
- hospital noun
- a place for treating the sick and injured
- hospitalization noun
- the American spelling
Commonly confused: hospitalisation or hospitalization? hospitalisation or hospitality?
hospitalisation vs hospitalization
Hospitalization is the American spelling of the same word; use whichever matches the variety of English you are writing.
hospitalisation vs hospitality
Hospitality means friendly treatment of guests, not medical care.
Practice
The patient's condition was serious enough to require ___.
Choose one answer.
Require is followed by a noun meaning admission to hospital, which is hospitalisation. Hospital would need an article, and hospitality and hospitable have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hospitalisation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.