Standard Lemma guide

medicalization

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The act or process of medicalizing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Near-synonym: pathologization
  • The medicalization of neurodiversity is complex; psychiatric nosology attempts to draw appropriate lines according to functional impairment or distress, but the concept of functional impairment sometimes relies on enculturated requirements.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pathologization

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *med-der. Proto-Italic *medēōrder. Latin medeor Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin medicus Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Medieval Latin medicālisbor. French médicalbor. English medical Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ization English medicalization From medical + -ization.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: medikalisointi — the act or process of medicalizing
  • Finnish: medikalisoituminen — the act or process of medicalizing
  • French: médicalisation — the act or process of medicalizing
  • Galician: medicalización — the act or process of medicalizing
  • German: Medikalisierung — the act or process of medicalizing
  • Polish: medykalizacja — the act or process of medicalizing
  • Portuguese: medicalização — the act or process of medicalizing
  • Spanish: medicalización — the act or process of medicalizing