hospitalo

Hospitalo is the Esperanto noun meaning “hospital.” It is formed from the root hospital- combined with the nominal suffix -o, following Esperanto’s regular word-building rules. It denotes a medical facility where patients receive treatment and care.

The root hospital- is a common international loanword found in many languages, and the Esperanto form aligns with this family of terms. The word has been part of the Esperanto lexicon since the language’s early standardization and appears in standard references such as the Fundamento de Esperanto and widely used dictionaries. In Esperanto, the definite article la is used with hospitalo, and the plural is hospitaloj.

Grammar and usage: The accusative form is hospitalon for direct objects or destinations. Examples: La hospitalo estas granda. Mi iris al la hospitalon. Mi vizitis hospitalon. La hospitaloj estas gravaj institucioj por sano.

Phonology and orthography: Hospitalo is pronounced hos-pi-LA-o, with stress on the penultimate syllable. The word follows standard Esperanto spelling and pronunciation rules, in which each vowel is distinctly pronounced and h corresponds to a voiceless glottal fricative.

See also: Esperanto language, Fundamento de Esperanto, Plena Ilustrita Vortaro.