hygiene
Americannoun
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Also the science that deals with the preservation of health.
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a condition or practice conducive to the preservation of health, as cleanliness.
Poor personal hygiene can lead to health issues such as skin infections.
Mental hygiene in children should be constantly monitored by parents and teachers.
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a beneficial or recommended practice or set of practices (used in combination).
Using the same password on all of your important accounts is simply not good password hygiene.
noun
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Also called: hygienics. the science concerned with the maintenance of health
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clean or healthy practices or thinking
personal hygiene
Usage
What does hygiene mean? Hygiene is a collection of practices to promote and preserve health, or a condition involving the use of such practices.In its most popular sense, hygiene refers to habitual actions that help you stay physically healthy, such as washing your hands and brushing your teeth. This sense of the word is especially used in phrases like personal hygiene and good hygiene. Personal hygiene is closely associated with cleanliness.Hygiene can also be applied to one’s mental well-being—mental hygiene is the practice of trying to maintain mental health through proactive behavior and treatment.The word hygiene is also used to refer to the science that deals with preserving health—both of individuals and the general public. Another word for this is hygienics.The adjective hygienic can mean related to or involving hygiene, promoting good health, or sanitary.Example: Washing your hands is the easiest way to improve your personal hygiene.
Etymology
Origin of hygiene
First recorded in 1590–1600; from French hygiène, from New Latin hygieina, from Greek hygieinḕ (téchnē) “healthful (art),” feminine of hygieinós “healthful,” equivalent to hygiḗ(s) “healthy” + -inos -ine 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Women's living conditions were unimaginable. We wanted to provide clothes and hygiene kits," she says.
From BBC
Those consequences are already visible in the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis which prompted Mexico to send tonnes of emergency aid to Cuba, including powdered milk and personal hygiene items.
From BBC
Around 440 people have been left homeless or displaced in Juiz de Fora alone, with the local government providing temporary shelter and asking for donations of water, food, clothing and hygiene supplies.
From BBC
As well as clothing and shoes, the cupboard also stocks personal hygiene products and laundry detergents.
From BBC
For peddlers of body-care products and other hygiene items, from dish detergent to air freshener, winning in the attention economy can include creating a fear of missing out on “limited edition” entertainment tie-ins.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
