El término paciente en la tradición lexicográfica hispánica

This interdisciplinary study is conceived as a contribution to Spanish lexicography that analyzes the changes that the definition of the word paciente has undergone throughout its history, from the oldest to the most modern repertoires. The adjective paciente is currently applied to the person who has the quality of patience, to the individual who is to be recognized by a medical professional, or to the sentence constituent that is affected by the action that the agent undertakes against him. However, these were not the original meanings of the concept, since, in its origins, the term was linked to a psychological realm (a person who suffers adversity with resignation), a medical realm (a sick person), a marital realm (a husband who tolerates his wife's offense), and a philosophical realm (a subject who suffers the action of the agent). In this context, the contribution aims to trace the possible influences of lexicographers in conceptualizing the term paciente and the changes in meaning that the word's usage entailed, in accordance with the passage of time and the ideological and social advancements reflected in Spanish dictionaries.