Standard Lemma guide

diagnostics

noun · 4 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.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AY2 AH0 G N AA1 S T IH0 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

plural of diagnostic

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The process of arriving at a diagnosis (through diagnostic efforts: tests, analysis, thought).

Diagnostic methods considered collectively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, plural, singular, uncountable

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • Near-synonym: diagnosis
  • Diagnostics is the area in which this molecule is most useful, whereas it is not a treatment target in itself.
  • The diagnostics were extensive, with scores of laboratory tests.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: diagnosis

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The process of arriving at a diagnosis (through diagnostic efforts: tests, analysis, thought).

The process of determining the state of or capability of a component to perform its function(s).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, plural, singular, uncountable

Examples

  • Diagnostics is the area in which the cost of hiring a factory-certified technician might easily pay for itself through downtime reduction.
  • The diagnostics were a nightmare, but we finally isolated the problem to a specific one of the many ECUs — of which this ridiculous design has at least fourteen that we know of.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the branch of medical science dealing with the classification of disease

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nosology

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: medicine, medical specialty

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 Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic Old English -as Middle English -es English -s English -ics English diagnostics From diagnostic + -ics.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Belarusian: дыягно́стыка (dyjahnóstyka) — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Chinese Mandarin: 診斷 /诊断 (zhěnduàn) — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Finnish: diagnostiikka — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • French: diagnostic — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • German: Diagnostik — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Hungarian: diagnosztika — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Hungarian: ellenőrzés — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Kazakh: диагностика (diagnostika) — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Russian: диагно́стика (diagnóstika) — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Swedish: diagnostik — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Turkish: teşhis — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component
  • Ukrainian: діагно́стика (diahnóstyka) — the process of determining the state of or capability of a component