klinikó

Klinikó is a Hungarian term that historically refers to a medical facility or department within a hospital or university medical center where clinical services are provided and where teaching and patient care occur. In contemporary usage, the word most often encountered for a clinic or hospital department is klinika; klinikó is a rarer, older, or stylistic variant that may appear in formal titles or traditional contexts rather than in everyday speech.

Etymology and scope: The form klinikó derives from the same roots as klinika, which come from Greek klinikos, meaning related to bed or bedside, and from Latin clinica, ultimately signaling clinical practice. The distinction between klinika and klinikó in modern Hungarian is mainly one of frequency and register rather than of a fixed, technical difference.

Usage notes: In current Hungarian, klinika is the standard term for a clinic or the clinical department of a hospital (for example, a hematology klinika or a neurology klinika). Klinikó is encountered less frequently and tends to appear in historical texts, formal naming, or stylistic contexts where a traditional tone is desired. Outside Hungarian, cognates in related languages reflect the same clinical origin.

See also: klinika, hospital, medicine, clinical department, medical education.