ETYM Old Fren. hospital, ospital, French hôpital, Late Lat. hospitale (or perh. Eng. hospital is directly from the Late Latin), from Latin hospitalis relating to a guest, hospitalia apartments for guests, from hospes guest. Related to Host a landlord, and cf. Hostel, Hotel, Spital.
1. A health facility where patients receive treatment; SYN. infirmary.
2. A medical institution where sick or injured people are given medical or surgical care.

Facility for the care of the sick, injured, and incapacitated.
In ancient times, temples of deities such as Aesculapius offered facilities for treatment and by the 4th century, the Christian church had founded hospitals for lepers, cripples, the blind, the sick, and the poor. The oldest surviving hospital in Europe is the 7th-century Hôtel Dieu, Paris; in Britain, the most ancient are St Bartholomew's 1123 and St Thomas's 1200 in London; and in the Americas the Hospital of Jesus of Nazareth, Mexico, 1524.
Medical knowledge advanced during the Renaissance, and hospitals became increasingly secularized after the Reformation. In the 19th century, further progress was made in hospital design, administration, and staffing (Florence Nightingale played a significant role in this). In the 20th century there has been an increasing trend toward specialization and the inclusion of maternity wards. Modern hospitals have abandoned the single-room Nightingale design for wards in favor of four-or six-bedded rooms, where patients have more privacy.