1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Clinic; Clinical

CLINIC; CLINICAL (Gr. κλίνη, a bed), an adjective strictly connoting association with the bedside, and so used in ecclesiology of baptism of the sick or dying, but more particularly in medicine to characterize its aspect as associated with practice on the living patient. Thus clinical experience is opposed to what is learnt from laboratory research or theoretical considerations. The substantive “clinic” is technically employed for a medical school or class where instruction is given in practical work as illustrated by the examination and treatment of actual cases of disease.