health

Definition of Health

(noun) The physical and mental condition of an individual.

Health Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: health

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /hɛlθ/
• British English – /hɛlθ/

Usage Notes

• Plural: healths
• An individual in good health is (adjective) healthy.

Related Quotation

• “While youth and vitality are highly valued commodities in a postindustrial society, life expectancies and prospects for good health are extended. Consequently, people can be expected to work longer if they choose. Moreover, with less emphasis on work and more on service and play, postindustrial societies may offer the elderly a vast array of meaningful social roles outside the world of work” (Thompson and Hickey 2012:339).

Related Video

Additional Information

• Aging and Social Gerontology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Death and Dying Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Food and Agriculture Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Medical Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “health” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Banaszak-Holl, Jane, Sandra Levitsky, and Mayer N. Zald. 2010. Social Movements and the Transformation of American Health Care. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Bury, Michael, and Jonathan Gabe, eds. 2004. The Sociology of Health and Illness: A Reader. London: Routledge.
• Foucault, Michel. 1961. Madness and Civilisation. New York: Vintage.
• Foucault, Michel. 1973. The Birth of the Clinic. London: Tavistock.
• Green, Judith, and Nicki Thorogood. 1998. Analysing Health Policy: A Sociological Approach. London: Addison Wesley Longman.
• Kleinman, Arthur. 1978. “Concepts and a Model for the Comparison of Medical Systems.” Social Science and Medicine 12(Part B):85–93. doi:10.1016/0160-7987(78)90014-5.
• Kronenfeld, Jennie J. 2003. Reorganizing Health Care Delivery Systems: Problems of Managed Care and Other Models of Health Care Delivery. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• MacKeown, Thomas. 1976. The Role of Medicine: Dream, Mirage or Nemesis? London: Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust.
• Mokdad, Ali H., James S. Marks, Donna F. Stroup, and Julie L. Gerberding. 2004. “Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000.” Journal of the American Medical Association 291(10):1238–45. doi:10.1001/jama.291.10.1238.
• Nettleton, Sarah. 2013. The Sociology of Health and Illness. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Stacey, Margaret. 1991. The Sociology of Health and Healing. London: Routledge.

Related Terms

• activity theory
• acute disease
• chronic disease
• epidemiology
• infectious disease
• life expectancy
• medical sociology
• medicalization
• poverty

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Reference

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Works Consulted

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Cite the Definition of Health

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “health.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/health/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

health. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/health/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “health.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/health/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“health.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 14 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/health/>.