Medical Diagnosis

Medical diagnosis (often simply termed diagnosis) refers both to the process of attempting to determine or identify a possible disease or disorder (and diagnosis in this sense can also be termed (medical) diagnostic procedure), and to the opinion reached by this process (also being termed (medical) diagnostic opinion). From the point of view of statistics the diagnostic procedure involves classification tests. It is a major component of, for example, the procedure of a doctor's visit.

The plural of diagnosis is diagnoses, the verb is to diagnose, and a person who diagnoses is called a diagnostician. The word diagnosis (/daɪ.əɡˈnoʊsɨs/) is derived through Latin from the Greek word διαγιγνώσκειν, meaning to discern or distinguish. This Greek word is formed from διά, meaning apart, and γιγνώσκειν, meaning to perceive.