Kevin
October 30, 2023
Common Questions

For those who are vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (AKA COVID-19), the prognosis is good for survival. Wondering what the word prognosis (prɑːɡˈnoʊ.sɪs/ /prɒɡˈnəʊ.sɪs) means? We can help.

Read on as we explore the term prognosis — plural prognoses — to uncover its definition, origin, usage, and more.

What Is the Definition of Prognosis?

According to the National Cancer Institute (NIH), the term prognosis (pronounced prog-noh-sis) can be defined as the likely outcome or course of a disease, the chance of recovery or recurrence.

In other words, it’s a forecast or prognostication — a prediction of the probable course as well as the outcome of a disease.

What Is the Word Origin of Prognosis?

Prognosis was first noted in the 1650s and derived from Late Latin eprognosis, as well as Greek prógnōsis — which literally stands for foreknowledge. Additionally, our word of the day is a derivative of progignōskein, which stands for “to know before.”

What Are the Synonyms and Antonyms of Prognosis?

A fantastic way to enhance your understanding of a new word is to review synonyms and antonyms. What’s a synonym and an antonym, you ask?

In short, synonyms are words that have nearly or exactly the same meaning as another word, whereas antonyms are words of opposite meaning.

Synonyms

Foretelling
Chances of success
Prediction
Prophecy
Forecast
Prognostication
Augury
Soothsaying
Prognostic
Prognosticating
Likely improvement
Prospects of inheritance
Fighting chance
Good chance
Vaticination
Presaging
Forecasting
Auguring
Cast
Predicting
Projection
Prevision
Expectation
Guess
Speculation
Surmise
Diagnosis
Prospects
Scenario
Divination
Omen
Surmise
Guess
Opinion
Verdict
Conclusion
Interpretation
Investigation
Scrutiny
Adjudgment
Settlement
Order
Analysis
Path
Outlook
Lookout
Readiness
Hint
Sign
Route

Antonyms

Calculation
Measurement
Proof
Reality
Truth
Recollection
Hindsight
Ignorance
Postmortem
Thoughtlessness
Accusation
Record
Profile
Ignorance
Complication
Misconception
Misunderstanding
Release
Unlikelihood

How Can You Use Prognosis in a Sentence?

The word “prognosis” is a medical term for predicting the expected or likely development of an illness.

Now that you’re an expert on our word of the day, we challenge you to put your newfound knowledge to the test — using proper usage of the word “prognosis,” quiz yourself to see how many sentences you can conjure up.

Need some help to get you going? Here are some example sentences for you to review below:

“Yes, we research all types of cancer, but lately, we have focused almost solely on breast cancer and lung cancer research.”

“Despite his oh-so gloomy prognosis, through palliative care, he has received all the care he truly needs.”

“Although the increasingly high gas prices are quite awful, I think it could drive people to go green, which just might be what our beloved planet needs to turn the prognosis for global warming around.”

“The prognosis for malaria isn’t a good one, but I heard that if it’s caught early, the survival rate goes up.”

“We used a medical dictionary to learn all there is about this week’s vocabulary words; my favorite this week has to be the word prognosis.”

“The initial prognosis after Amber’s operation was that she’d have a speedy and full recovery. But after her surgery, the doctor had a poor prognosis and thinks recovery may take a little longer than fully anticipated.”

“With the way things are going lately, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the prognosis for the economy is looking a bit bleak.”

What Are Translations of Prognosis?

Our word of the day is used all over the world — it’s just said a little differently! Here are some common translations of prognosis:

Bulgarian — Прогноза
Croatian — Predviđanje
Czech — Prognóza
Danish — Prognose
Korean — 예후
Polish — Prognoza
Russian — прогноз
Dutch — Prognose
American English — prognosis
Brazilian Portuguese — prognóstico
Afrikaans — Prognose
Arabic — الإنذار
Chinese (simplified) — 预后尤指对病人能否康复的
European Spanish — pronóstico
French — pronostic
German — Prognose
Italian — prognosi
Japanese — 予後’
British English — prognosis
Korean — 예후병의
Finnish — Ennuste
Greek — Πρόγνωση
European Portuguese — prognóstico
Swedish — prognos
Thai — คาด คะเน
Turkish — Prognoz
Ukrainian — Прогноз
Vietnamese — tiên lượng
Spanish — pronóstico

Translations of Prognosis Synonyms

As mentioned previously, a great way to really understand a word’s meaning inside and out is by learning its synonyms — you know, those words or phrases that have the same meaning. And what better way to study than with friends from all corners of the globe!

With this in mind, here are some translations of the synonym medical diagnosis:

Spanish — diagnóstico médico
Swedish — medicinsk diagnos
Thai — การวินิจฉัยทางการแพทย์
Turkish — tıbbi tanı
Ukrainian — медична діагностика
Vietnamese — chẩn đoán y tế
Afrikaans — mediese diagnose
Arabic — التشخيص الطبي
Bulgarian — медицинска диагноза
American English — medical diagnosis
Korean — 의료 진단
Norwegian — medisinsk diagnose
Polish — diagnostyka medyczna
Portuguese — diagnóstico médico
Russian — медицинская диагностика
German — medizinische Diagnose
Greek — ιατρική διάγνωση
Italian — diagnosi medica
Japanese — 医療診断
Chinese (simplified) — 医疗诊断
Croatian — medicinska dijagnoza
Czech — lékařská diagnóza
Finnish — lääketieteellinen diagnoosi
French — diagnostic médical
Danish — medicinsk diagnose
Dutch — medische diagnose

Translations for the synonym chances of success:

Afrikaans — Die kans op sukses
Bulgarian — шансовете за успех
Czech — šance na úspěch
Korean — 성공의 기회
Russian — шансы на успех
Spanish — posibilidades de éxito
Swedish — chanser att lyckas
Thai — โอกาสในการประสบความสําเร็จ
Turkish — başarı şansı
Ukrianian — Шанси на успіх
Vietnamese — Cơ hội thành công
Chinese (simplified) — 成功的机会
Italian — possibilità di successo
Japanese — 成功のチャンス
Norwegian — sjanser for å lykkes
Croatian — šanse za uspjeh

Conclusion

Simply put, our word of the day can be defined as a forecast or prognostication. What’s prognostication mean? It’s the action of foretelling future events. With this in mind, prognosis simply refers to an estimate of the future of someone or something.

In other words, it’s knowledge beforehand.

Although the term prognosis can be used in a number of ways, it is most commonly found in the medical field, where it is defined as the probable outcome or course of a disease. For example, the prognosis of an illness is usually good when caught early — this means that recovery is likely.

Sources:

Definition of prognosis: NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms | Cancer.gov

Prognosis Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Chance of success definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.