What it means
تشخیص (tashkhis) means diagnosis, the act of identifying what illness or condition a patient has. It comes from Arabic, where it is the form-II masdar of the root sh-kh-s, meaning to distinguish, identify, or personalize. The same root gives شخص (shakhs), meaning a person or individual. In Persian, تشخیص is used broadly for any act of identifying or recognizing something, not only in medicine. A natural contrast pair is تشخیص و درمان (tashkhis va darman), meaning diagnosis and treatment, a phrase you will hear in clinics and health campaigns.
How to use it
- دکتر هنوز تشخیص دقیقی نداده. (doktor hanuz tashkhis-e daqiqi nadade.) “The doctor has not yet given a precise diagnosis.”
- تشخیص این بیماری سخته. (tashkhis-e in bimari sakht-e.) “Diagnosing this illness is difficult.”
- برای تشخیص باید آزمایش خون بدی. (baraye tashkhis bayad azmayesh-e khun bedi.) “You need to give a blood test for the diagnosis.”
- تشخیص به عهدهی متخصصه. (tashkhis be ohde-ye motakhasas-e.) “The diagnosis is the specialist’s responsibility.”
Cultural note
Iranian patients commonly seek a second or third medical opinion before accepting a تشخیص, particularly for serious conditions. Specialist clinics in Tehran and other major cities routinely see patients who have already consulted a general practitioner and want confirmation. The phrase تشخیص اشتباه (tashkhis-e eshtebah), meaning misdiagnosis, comes up frequently in public health discussions and news coverage of medical malpractice cases in Iran.