Adjacent Words

Health definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HEALTH, n. helth. [from heal.] That state of an animal or living body, in which the parts are sound, well organized and disposed, and in which they all perform freely their natural functions. In this state the animal feels no pain. This word is applied also to plants.
1. Sound state of the mind; natural vigor of faculties.
2. Sound state of the mind, in a moral sense; purity; goodness.
There is no health in us.
3. Salvation or divine favor, or grace which cheers God's people. Psalms 43,
4. Wish of health and happiness; used in drinking. Come, love and health to all; an elliptical phrase, for, I wish health to you.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a healthy state of wellbeing free from disease; "physicians should be held responsible for the health of their patients" [syn: health, wellness] [ant: illness, malady, sickness, unwellness]
2: the general condition of body and mind; "his delicate health"; "in poor health"

Merriam Webster's

noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English helthe, from Old English h?lth, from h?l Date: before 12th century 1. a. the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially freedom from physical disease or pain b. the general condition of the body <in poor health> <enjoys good health> 2. a. flourishing condition ; well-being <defending the health of the beloved oceans — Peter Wilkinson> b. general condition or state <poor economic health> 3. a toast to someone's health or prosperity

Britannica Concise

Extent of continuing physical, emotional, mental, and social ability to cope with one's environment. Good health is harder to define than bad health (which can be equated with presence of disease) because it must convey a more positive concept than mere absence of disease, and there is a variable area between health and disease. A person may be in good physical condition but have a cold or be mentally ill. Someone may appear healthy but have a serious condition (e.g., cancer) that is detectable only by physical examination or diagnostic tests, or not even by these.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the state of being well in body or mind. 2 a person's mental or physical condition (has poor health). 3 soundness, esp. financial or moral (the health of the nation). 4 a toast drunk in someone's honour. Phrases and idioms: health centre the headquarters of a group of local medical services. health certificate a certificate stating a person's fitness for work etc. health farm a residential establishment where people seek improved health by a regime of dieting, exercise, etc. health food natural food thought to have health-giving qualities. health service a public service providing medical care. health visitor Brit. a trained nurse who visits those in need of medical attention in their homes. Etymology: OE hælth f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Health Health, n. [OE. helthe, AS. h?lp, fr. h[=a]l hale, sound, whole. See Whole.] 1. The state of being hale, sound, or whole, in body, mind, or soul; especially, the state of being free from physical disease or pain. There is no health in us. --Book of Common Prayer. Though health may be enjoyed without gratitude, it can not be sported with without loss, or regained by courage. --Buckminster. 2. A wish of health and happiness, as in pledging a person in a toast. ``Come, love and health to all.'' --Shak. Bill of health. See under Bill. Health lift, a machine for exercise, so arranged that a person lifts an increasing weight, or moves a spring of increasing tension, in such a manner that most of the muscles of the body are brought into gradual action; -- also called lifting machine. Health officer, one charged with the enforcement of the sanitary laws of a port or other place. To drink a health. See under Drink.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A person's health is the condition of their body and the extent to which it is free from illness or is able to resist illness. Caffeine is bad for your health. N-UNCOUNT: oft with poss 2. Health is a state in which a person is not suffering from any illness and is feeling well. In hospital they nursed me back to health. 3. The health of something such as an organization or a system is its success and the fact that it is working well. There's no way to predict the future health of the banking industry. = prosperity

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

helth (shalom, yeshu`ah, 'arukhah; riph'uth, 'arukhah; soteria, hugiaino): Shalom is part of the formal salutation still common in Palestine. In this sense it is used in Ge 43:28; 2Sa 20:9; the stem word means "peace," and is used in many varieties of expression relating to security, success and good bodily health. Yeshu`ah, which specifically means deliverance or help, occurs in the refrain of Ps 42:11; 43:5, as well as in Ps 67:2; in the American Standard Revised Version it is rendered "help." Riph'uth is literally, "healing," and is found only in Pr 3:8. Marpe' also means healing of the body, but is used in a figurative sense as of promoting soundness of mind and moral character in Pr 4:22; 12:18; 13:17; 16:24, as also in Jer 8:15, where the Revised Version (British and American) renders it "healing." 'Arukhah is also used in the same figurative sense in Isa 58:8; Jer 8:22; 30:17; 33:6; literally means "repairing or restoring"; it is the word used of the repair of the wall of Jerusalem by Nehemiah (chapter 4).

The word "health" occurs twice in the New Testament: in Paul's appeal to his shipmates to take food (Ac 27:34), he says it is for their soteria, literally, "safety"; so the American Standard Revised Version, the King James Version "health." The verb hugianino is used in 3 Joh 1:2, in the apostle's salutation to Gaius.

Alexander Macalister

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Soundness, freedom from disease, hale condition.

Moby Thesaurus

condition, constitution, euphoria, fettle, fitness, form, haleness, healthfulness, healthiness, naturalism, naturalness, naturism, normalcy, normality, normalness, order, propriety, realism, regularity, robustness, salubriousness, salubrity, soundness, stamina, strength, trim, vigor, vigorousness, vitality, well-being, wholeness, wholesomeness