Standard Lemma guide

diagnostic

adj · noun · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /daɪ.əɡˈnɒs.tɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American, dialectal: /ˌdaɪ.əɡˈnɑ.stɪk/ of Canada
  • Texas: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, dialectal: /ˌdaɪ.əɡˈnɒs.tɪk/ of the US
  • Australian: /dɑe.əɡˈnɔs.tɪk/
  • New-Zealand: /daɪ.əɡˈnɒs.tək/
  • New-Zealand: [dɑe̯.əɡˈnɔ̟s.tək]
  • CMU ARPABET: D AY2 AH0 G N AA1 S T IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, or relating to diagnosis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Characteristic of a particular disease.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Serving to indicate or specify a particular item or thing within a group of similar things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Intended to assess a student's preexisting knowledge on the material being taught.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: education

Examples

  • A diagnostic assessment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Characteristic of a particular taxon or clade.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Any technique used in medical diagnosis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Any tool or technique used to find the root of a problem.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

That by which anything is known; a symptom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective

Meaning 9

concerned with diagnosis; used for furthering diagnosis

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a diagnostic reading test

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective satellite

Meaning 10

characteristic or indicative of a disease

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a diagnostic sign of yellow fever
  • a rash symptomatic of scarlet fever
  • symptomatic of insanity
  • a rise in crime symptomatic of social breakdown

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: symptomatic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *dwísder. Ancient Greek διά (diá) Ancient Greek δια- (dia-) Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh3- Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h3sḱétider. Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō Ancient Greek γῐγνώσκω (gĭgnṓskō) Ancient Greek δῐαγῐγνώσκω (dĭagĭgnṓskō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Ancient Greek -τις (-tis) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Ancient Greek δῐᾰ́γνωσῐς (dĭắgnōsĭs) ▲ Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τος (-tos) ▲ Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) ? Ancient Greek -τῐκός (-tĭkós) ▲ Ancient Greek δῐᾰ- (dĭă-) Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh3- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh3tisder. Ancient Greek γνῶσις (gnôsis) ▲ Ancient Greek -τῐκός (-tĭkós) Ancient Greek γνωστῐκός (gnōstĭkós) Ancient Greek δῐαγνωστῐκός (dĭagnōstĭkós)bor. English diagnostic From Ancient Greek διαγνωστικός (diagnōstikós), adjective from διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō, “to distinguish, diagnose”).

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: дыягнасты́чны (dyjahnastýčny) — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Bulgarian: диагности́чен (diagnostíčen) — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Catalan: diagnòstic — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Czech: diagnostický — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Danish: diagnostisk — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Dutch: diagnostisch — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Esperanto: diagnoza — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Finnish: diagnostinen — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • French: diagnostique — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • German: diagnostisch — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Greek: διαγνωστικός (diagnostikós) — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Hindi: नैदानिक (naidānik) — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Hungarian: diagnosztikai — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Italian: diagnostico — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Norwegian Bokmål: diagnostisk — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: diagnostisk — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Polish: diagnostyczny — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Portuguese: diagnóstico — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Romanian: de diagnoză — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Romanian: de diagnostic — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Russian: диагности́ческий (diagnostíčeskij) — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Spanish: diagnóstico — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Turkish: tanılayıcı — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Turkish: tanısal — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Turkish: teşhise ait — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Turkish: teşhisle alakalı/ilgili — of, or relating to diagnosis
  • Ukrainian: діагности́чний (diahnostýčnyj) — of, or relating to diagnosis
Real reading context

diagnostic in complete knowledge articles