klinice

Klinice is the locative singular form of the Czech noun klinika, which refers to a clinic or medical facility where patients receive clinical care. The term can denote a hospital department, a clinic building, or a setting within a hospital dedicated to a particular medical field, such as internistická klinika (internal medicine clinic) or chirurgická klinika (surgical clinic). In common usage, klinika or klinika describes the place of care rather than a single doctor’s office.

Etymology and usage context: Klinika, and by extension klinice in its locative form, derive from the word clinique in French, itself from Latin clinica and Greek klinē (bed or couch), reflecting historic bedside medical study. The locative case klinice is used after prepositions that govern location, such as v (in), o (about), or na in some contexts, for example, v klinice (in the clinic) or o klinice (about the clinic). The genitive form for phrases indicating direction or possession would be do kliniky or bez kliniky, depending on the construction.

Relation to related terms: The Czech language also uses ordinace to denote a doctor’s office or practice, which is distinct from klinika in scope. In medical discourse, klinika typically refers to larger facilities or departments within a hospital rather than private or outpatient offices.

See also: klinika, ordinace, hospital, hospitalizace.