valetudinarian

WOTD – 21 September 2007    

English

Etymology

From Latin valētūdinārius, from valetudo (“state of health, health, ill health”), from valere (“to be strong or well”) +‎ -an

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌvæ.lə.ˌtuː.də.ˈnɛr.i.ən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

valetudinarian (comparative more valetudinarian, superlative most valetudinarian)

1. sickly, infirm, of ailing health

   The valetudinarian habit of discussing his health had grown on Rose... -- Florence Anne Sellar MacCunn, Sir Walter Scott's Friends, 1910, p. 234

   • Macaulay

     The virtue which the world wants is a healthful virtue, not a valetudinarian virtue.

2. being overly worried about one's health

Translations

of infirm health; sickly

• Bulgarian: болнав (bg) (bolnav)
• Finnish: sairaalloinen (fi)
• French: valétudinaire

• Greek: υποχονδριακός (el) (ypochondriakós) m (ypochondriakós)
• Italian: valetudinario (it)
• Spanish: valetudinario (es) m, valetudinaria (es) f

Synonyms

• hypochondriac

Noun

valetudinarian (plural valetudinarians)

1. A person in poor health or sickly, especially one who is constantly obsessed with their state of health

   The most uninformed mind, with a healthy body, is happier than the wisest valetudinarian. -- Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (1904), p. 168.

   She affected to be spunky about her ailments and afflictions, but she was in fact an utterly self-centered valetudinarian (Louis Auchincloss) The American Heritage Dictionary

Translations

person obsessed with state of health

• French: hypocondriaque (fr) m
• Greek: υποχόνδριος (el) (ypochóndrios) m (ypochóndrios)

• Spanish: hipocondríaco (es) m

Synonyms

• hypochondriac

References

• valetudinarian in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913