A patient is any person who receives medical attention, care, or treatment. The person is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician or other health care professional, although one who is visiting a physician for a routine check-up may also be viewed as a patient. The word originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word patiens, the present participle of the deponent verb,, meaning 'I am suffering,' and akin to the Greek verb πά&#… (More on Patient)