urinary

IPA/ˈjʊərɪnəri/
KK[jˈɚənˌɛri]IPA/ˈjʊrɪneri/

urinary — adjective

  • urinarypositive
  • more urinarycomparative
  • most urinarysuperlative

1. used to describe anything that involves urine or the organs — such as the kidney

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

used to describe anything that involves urine or the organs — such as the kidneys and bladder — that create, hold, and remove it from the body

Example

The doctor sent a sample of Renata's urinary fluid to the lab for testing.

attributive use: urinary + fluid

Christopher visited a clinic after experiencing pain in his urinary tract.

collocation: urinary tract

Common collocations
  • urinary tract
  • urinary system
  • urinary infection
  • urinary bladder
  • urinary sample
  • urinary catheter
  • urinary problems
Synonyms
  • renal

    more specific — refers only to the kidneys themselves, not the whole tract or urine

  • excretory

    broader — covers all waste removal (including faeces and sweat), not just urine

Grammar Patterns

urinary + noun

Usage Note

Attributive only — always placed before a noun (urinary tract, urinary sample). Almost never used after a linking verb (*the problem is urinary).

Word family

  • urine
    nounB1
  • urinate
    verbB2
  • urination
    nounC1
  • urology
    nounC1
  • urological
    adjectiveC1
  • urologist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Urinary, renal, and excretory all relate to waste removal from the body, but at different levels. Urinary refers specifically to urine and the organs that handle it — the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Renal is narrower, pointing only to the kidneys themselves (renal artery, renal disease). Excretory is the broadest term, covering all ways the body gets rid of waste, including through faeces, sweat, and exhaled carbon dioxide alongside urine. For everyday clinical talk about bladder or urine issues, urinary is the right choice: a urinary tract infection, not a renal or excretory tract infection.

urinary ↗renal ↗excretory ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • urinary tract infection (UTI)
  • urinary system
  • urinary bladder
  • urinary catheter

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Urinary comes from Latin urina (urine) plus the English suffix -ary meaning 'relating to'. The word entered English in the mid-16th century, first used in medical texts to describe anything connected to urine or the organs that process it.