Diagnosis & Prognosis

Diagnosis (pronounced dahy-uhg-noh-sis)

(1) In clinical medicine, the process of determining by examination the nature and circumstances of a diseased condition.

(2) The decision reached from such an examination; the abbreviation is Dx.

(3) In general use, a determining or analysis of the cause or nature of a problem or situation; an answer or solution to a "problematic" situation.

(4) In taxonomy (particularly in biology), a written description of a species or other taxon serving to distinguish that species from all others.  Historically, this was applied especially to a description written in Latin and published.

1675–85: A borrowing from the New Latin diagnōsis, from the Ancient Greek διάγνωσις (diágnōsis) (a distinguishing, means or power of discernment), from διαγιγνώσκω (diagignṓskō or diagignōskein (to distinguish; to discern (literally "to know thoroughly" or "know apart (from another)”)) from gignōskein (inquiry, investigation, knowing; come to know).  The construct was διά (diá) (through) + γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) (to know).  The early precise meaning in medical Latin was “pre-scientific discrimination" applied especially in pathology, soon becoming a general "recognition of a disease from its symptoms".  In medicine, derived forms (differential diagnosis, prediagnosis (now more often as pre-diagnosis) etc are common and one especially prevalent is misdiagnosis.  The companion term to misdisgnosis (often used sequentially) is "medical misadventure", legal jargon used as verbal shorthand to explain why physicians so often "get away with" killing their patients.  Noting the death toll, the novelist Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) concluded: “The greatest danger of being in hospital is of being murdered by the doctors.”  Diagnosis is a noun & verb, diagnosticity & diagnostician are nouns, diagnostic is a noun & adjective and diagnose, diagnosable is an adjective, diagnosed & disgnosing are verbs and diagnosably is an adverb; the noun plural is diagnoses.

Of a diagnosis of psychache: Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December, 2011.  

Prognosis (pronounced prog-noh-sis)

(1) In clinical medicine, forecasting of the probable course and outcome of a disease, especially of the chances of recovery.

(2) In general use, a forecast or prognostication.

1645-1655: A borrowing from the Late Latin prognōsis, from the Ancient Greek πρόγνωσις (prógnōsis) (foreknowledge, perceiving beforehand, prediction), the construct being προ- (pro-) (before) + γνῶσις (gnôsis (gignōskein)) (inquiry, investigation, knowing; come to know), from γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō) (to know); the primitive Indo-European root was gno- (to know).  The general (non-medical) use in English dates from 1706 and there were (now rare) back-formations, the verb prognose noted in 1837 and the adjective prognostical as early as the 1680s.  In the Classical Latin prognostica meant "sign to forecast weather".  From the Latin root English gained prognosis, French pronostic, German Prognose, Italian prognosi, Norman prog'nose (Jersey), Spanish pronóstico & Hungarian prognózis; in the invented international language of Esperanto, it is prognozo.  The spelling prognostick is long obsolete.  Prognosis, prognosticator & prognostication are nouns, prognosticate & prognostify are verbs, prognostic & prognosticant are nouns & adjectives, prognosticous, prognostical, prognosticative, prognosticable & prognosticatory are adjectives and prognostically is an adverb; the noun plural is prognoses.  Most dictionaries list prognosticous & prognostify archaic or extinct but they're delicious words.   

Crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013, left) & Angela Merkel (b 1954; Chancellor of Germany 2005-2021, right) in a moment of brief, shared, Covid-era happiness, illustrate the use of “diagnosis” & “prognosis”.

Clinical use: Prognosis is the companion word to diagnosis and the two are sometimes confused.  A diagnosis is an identification of a disease via examination or the result of some diagnostic test.  What follows is a prognosis, which is a prediction of the course of the disease as well as the treatment and results.  The schoolbook trick to remember the difference is (1) that a diagnosis comes before a prognosis, and diagnosis is before prognosis alphabetically & (2) diagnosis and detection both start with "d" whereas prognosis and prediction both start with "p".

Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) was diagnosed with COVID-19 after a positive result to a test and placed in quarantine.  His prognosis was based on (1) what’s known generally about COVID-19 and (2) risk-factors specific to his case.  His risk factors included:

(1) Old: (then 74).

(2) Overweight (BMI (body mass index) of 30+).

(3) Male (varies between countries but male death rate tends to be higher).

(4) He is sub-human although, as a risk-factor, this remains speculative.  It’s mostly only some black Africans who are pure humans; the rest of the world’s population is a sub-human mongrel blend, descendants of inter-breeding between humans and Neanderthals, something that, based on genomic studies (as of late 2024/2025), occurred mostly some 45,000-50,000 years ago.  The charming part about that is all the white supremacists are sub-human (please don't tell them; although they'd reject it as fake news, it'd make them angrier still).  It was hypnotized the unexpectedly good outcomes (ie reported Covid-19 morbidity & mortality) in sub-Saharan Africa during pandemic might suggest some genetic advantage in being a pure human; the research is not complete and there may be other factors (or some statistical quirk) but it is possible a genetic risk-factor related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus was inherited from archaic Neanderthals, all those thousands of years ago.