HOSPICE NOUN (HEALTH AND FITNESS)

A nursing-home dedicated to the care of the dying and the incurably ill. Etymology: A specialization of the word hospice, which originally referred to a house of rest for pilgrims etc., usually run by a religious order; by the end of the nineteenth century the word was used for any home for the destitute. The early hospices for the dying were mostly set up by religious orders too. History and Usage: The word hospice has actually been in use for a home for the terminally ill since the turn of the century, but did not become widely known in this sense until the rise of the hospice movement of the late seventies and early eighties, which led to the setting up of hospices in many countries as places where people could be given a caring environment in which to spend their last days. Mother Frances is best known as the founder..., fundraiser and administrator of Helen House, in Oxford, England, probably the world's first hospice for dying or acutely afflicted children. Washington Post 30 Aug. 1985, section B, p. 1 He pays full tribute to his inspirer, Dame Cicely Saunders, who pioneered the hospice movement. Church Times 8 Aug. 1986, p. 7