psychiatric hospital

IPA/saɪ.kiˈæt.rɪk ˌhɒs.pɪ.təl/
IPA/saɪ.kiˈæt.rɪk ˌhɑː.spɪ.t̬əl/

psychiatric hospital — noun

1. a hospital where people with serious mental-health problems live for a time whil

1.nounC1
Definition

a hospital where people with serious mental-health problems live for a time while doctors and nurses treat them

Example

After the crisis, Mei stayed in a psychiatric hospital for three weeks.

stay in a psychiatric hospital

The social worker visited Omar daily at the psychiatric hospital.

visit someone at a psychiatric hospital

Common collocations
  • be admitted to a psychiatric hospital
  • stay in a psychiatric hospital
  • work at a psychiatric hospital
  • psychiatric hospital patient
Synonyms
  • mental hospital

    older everyday term; still understood, but it can sound less neutral than 'psychiatric hospital'

  • psychiatric ward

    a section inside a larger hospital, not usually a whole institution

  • mental-health facility

    broader term that can include hospitals, clinics, and residential centers

Usage Note

Often refers to an inpatient hospital where patients stay for treatment, not a place for a short office visit. In current usage, it sounds more formal and less blunt than 'mental hospital'.

Common Mistakes

She went to a psychiatric hospital for a ten-minute checkup.
She went to a psychiatric clinic for a short checkup.
A psychiatric hospital usually means an inpatient place where people stay, not a brief outpatient visit.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These terms all relate to mental-health care, but they point to different settings. A psychiatric hospital is a full hospital where patients may stay overnight or longer for treatment and supervision. A psychiatric ward is only one section inside a larger hospital, so it is smaller in scope. Mental hospital is an older everyday label for roughly the same kind of institution, but many speakers now prefer psychiatric hospital because it sounds more neutral. A psychiatric clinic is different again: it is usually for appointments, tests, or regular treatment without an overnight stay. You might say, 'Omar was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after the crisis, but now he only visits a psychiatric clinic once a month.'

psychiatric hospital ↗psychiatric wardmental hospitalpsychiatric clinic

Common collocations

Nouns

  • psychiatric hospital patient
  • psychiatric hospital staff
  • psychiatric hospital stay

Phrases

  • be admitted to a psychiatric hospital
  • work at a psychiatric hospital
  • be treated in a psychiatric hospital

Prepositions

  • in a psychiatric hospital
  • at a psychiatric hospital
  • to a psychiatric hospital

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

This phrase combines psychiatric and hospital. Psychiatric comes from Greek roots meaning 'mind' and 'medical healing', and it entered English through later medical Latin and French forms. Hospital comes from a Latin word for a place that receives and cares for people. Put together in modern English, the phrase came to mean a hospital that treats people with mental-health conditions.