convalescence

[ kon-vuh-les-uhns ]

noun

1. the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness.
2. the period during which one is convalescing.

convalescence

/ ˌkɒnvəˈlɛsəns /

noun

1. gradual return to health after illness, injury, or an operation, esp through rest
2. the period during which such recovery occurs

Derived Forms

• ˌconvaˈlescently, adverb
• ˌconvaˈlescent, nounadjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of convalescence¹

From the Late Latin word convalēscentia, dating back to 1480–90. See convalesce, -ence

Example Sentences

After his recovery and convalescence he enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tucson on the GI Bill, and later transferred to Washburn University in his home state of Kansas.

From Washington Blade

During a long convalescence, he became a serious reader and developed an aversion to hospitals and blood.

From Washington Post

Baha Mar’s Travel with Confidence initiative includes a $150 daily food and beverage credit with its courtesy convalescence suite.

From Washington Post

While there, she accidentally contracted conjunctivitis from an infant with gonorrhea ophthalmia and subsequently lost an eye after a long and painful convalescence.

From Washington Post

If Captain America can come back from the dead, then his current convalescence is only a temporary derailment.

From The Daily Beast

Hospitalized, seriously injured, he would return after a six-week convalescence.

From The Daily Beast

After a long period of convalescence following her breakdown, she breathes a sigh of relief when she is able to write.

From The Daily Beast

During my convalescence I had bought and read for the first time, The King in Yellow.

From The Daily Beast

Moreover, his convalescence involved a continuing “liberal education.”

From The Daily Beast

It appears early in the catarrhal stage, and persists until after convalescence.

From Project Gutenberg

I was blinded by passion; but that my emotional depths were not even stirred was manifested by the rapidity of my convalescence.

From Project Gutenberg

She charged him with having been a remarkable case, and he piled up illustrations of what he felt able to do in his convalescence.

From Project Gutenberg

The nurse smiled, and left him to his thoughts, which now came freely enough—too freely to help him to convalescence.

From Project Gutenberg

A great weakness seemed to overcome him, for an unusual gentleness came into his voice, the quiet tone of weak convalescence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ailment
• breakdown
• collapse
• disability
• disorder
• disturbance
• flu
• ill health
• malady
• relapse
• seizure
• sickness
• syndrome
• virus