diagnosticate

Diagnosticate is a verb meaning to determine the nature of a disease, condition, or problem by examination and analysis of symptoms, signs, or data. In medical contexts it is synonymous with diagnose, though diagnosticate can carry a sense of the active process of forming a diagnosis, and may imply a more formal or methodical approach. Outside medicine, it can refer to identifying nonmedical problems through systematic evaluation.

Etymology and usage: The term is built from the word diagnostic, which derives from the Greek diagnostikos, from dia- "through" and gnōsis "knowledge," with the Latin suffix -ate to form a verb. In modern English, diagnose is overwhelmingly preferred in everyday medical writing and practice, while diagnosticate is considered formal, less common, or archaic in some dialects. Some sources treat it as a valid but rarer alternative.

Usage notes and examples: A clinician may diagnosticate a patient after reviewing history, physical examination, tests, and imaging. In nonmedical settings, engineers or detectives might diagnosticate the cause of a fault or anomaly by analyzing data. The related noun forms are diagnosis and diagnostication; the adjective is diagnostic, and a practitioner is a diagnostician.

Related terms include diagnosis, diagnostic, diagnostician, diagnostication, diagnostic testing.