sanatorium

noun

san·​a·​to·​ri·​um ˌsa-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-əm 

variants or sanitarium

ˌsa-nə-ˈter-ē-əm 

or less commonly sanitorium

ˌsa-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-əm 

plural sanatoriums or sanatoria ˌsa-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-ə  or sanitariums or sanitaria ˌsa-nə-ˈter-ē-ə  also sanitoriums or sanitoria ˌsa-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-ə 

1

: an establishment or facility offering usually long-term medical care or treatment: such as

a

: an establishment that provides therapy typically involving specific regimens (such as special diet, fresh air, or daily exercise) for treatment or rehabilitation

I contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and found myself flat on my back in a sanatorium in the Adirondack Mountains …

—Walker Percy

He wanted to kick the drugs, and several times in 1966 and 1967 he went to a sanitarium outside Paris and took a "sleeping cure"—a regimen of tranquillizers and bed rest.

—Ingrid Sischy

b

: a facility treating individuals with mental or emotional disorders

He suffered his first nervous breakdown in November of 1947 … and was committed to a Long Island sanatorium for almost a year.

—Francis Davis

… we read of Freud's twice-a-day visits to the sanitarium where his … patient was staying …

—Janet Malcolm

c

: an institution for rest and recuperation

It was the same sanitarium where he recovered from a quintuple heart bypass operation in 1996.

—Fred Coleman

2

: an establishment catering to individuals seeking to improve or maintain good health : a health resort

So all we get is a luxe bustling sanitarium with people concentrating on vegetarian diets and their colons.

—Stanley Kauffmann

Examples of sanatorium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mieczysław Wojnicz, a young Polish engineer in training, has arrived at the sanatorium in Göbersdorf, a resort town in the Silesian mountains near the current Polish-Czech border. —Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2024

Kalari Rasayana has the feel of a sanatorium merged with a strict boarding school. —Jane Alexander, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Feb. 2024

Choate’s sanatorium, where Greeley died, is now part of Pace University’s Pleasantville campus. —Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024

In the late nineteenth century, when tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States, the region became an alternative to the sanatoriums of Europe. —Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

sanatorium from Late Latin sānātōrius (adjective) "healing" (from Latin sānāre "to cure, restore to health"—derivative of sānus "sound, healthy," of uncertain origin— + -tōrius, deverbal adjective suffix) + -orium; sanitarium from Latin sānitās "health, soundness of mind" + -arium — more at sanity

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sanatorium

noun

san·​a·​to·​ri·​um ˌsan-ə-ˈtōr-ē-əm 

-ˈtȯr-

plural sanatoriums or sanatoria -ē-ə 

: an establishment for the care and treatment especially of people recovering from illness or having a disease likely to last a long time

called also sanitarium

Medical Definition

sanatorium

noun

san·​a·​to·​ri·​um ˌsan-ə-ˈtōr-ē-əm, -ˈtȯr- 

plural sanatoriums or sanatoria -ē-ə 

1

: an establishment that provides therapy combined with a regimen (as of diet and exercise) for treatment or rehabilitation

2

a

: an institution for rest and recuperation (as of convalescents)

b

: an establishment for the treatment of the chronically ill

a tuberculosis sanatorium