1. Nosocomial can mean relating to a hospital.

2. Nosocomial can also refer to a new disorder that is linked to being treated in a hospital, and which is not the patient's original medical condition. For example, hospital acquired diseases are referred to as nosocomial.

Nosocomial comes from the Greek word, "nosokomeian," meaning "hospital." For all of you word origin fans, the word "nosos" is Greek for "disease," and the word "komeo" is Greek for "take care of." Put those two words together and you get "take care of disease." A place where diseases are taken care of is a hospital, hence the name.

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