historial médico
/istoɾjal mediko/from spelling rulesmasculine
The English phrase 'medical history' is translated into Spanish as historial médico.
historial médico is used to describe the details regarding a patient's previous medical experiences or clinical records. In clinical settings, doctors may also use the phrase antecedentes médicos to refer specifically to a patient's medical background or past medical conditions.
Meaning: details about patient's previous medical experiences (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of historial, meaning history or record and médico, meaning medical.
Which one should you use?
While historia médica is sometimes used, historial médico is the more precise term for a clinical record or file, whereas historia often refers to a narrative of events. To specify previous illnesses or diseases, you can use enfermedades previas.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, historia clínica is used to refer to medical history. In some Latin American countries, historial clínico is a common variation of historial médico.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form is historiales médicos, where both the noun and the adjective take the plural suffix.
Did you know?
- The word médico shares an ancient root with the English word 'measure', as both stem from the idea of 'taking care of' or 'arranging' something through proper proportion.
- The phrase antecedentes médicos translates literally as 'medical antecedents', treating a patient's history as a series of precursors rather than a narrative record.
- While historia refers to a narrative or the academic study of the past, historial specifically denotes a chronological list of events or a file.
Examples in context
- ¿Te parece bien si te hago unas pocas preguntas sobre tu historial médico?Is it OK if I ask you a few questions about your medical history?This sentence shows how to ask permission to ask questions about someone's historial médico.Tatoeba #10097424 by manufrutos, translation #10096054 by CK
- Examinaré al paciente inmediatamente, pero antes déjeme revisar su historial médico.I'll examine the patient right away, but before let's check his medical history.This sentence illustrates a professional context for checking a patient's historial médico before an examination.Tatoeba #1665576 by termito2nd, translation #1699480 by marcelostockle
- Tengo antecedentes de diabetes en mi historial médico.I have a history of diabetes in my medical history.
- El doctor necesita su historial médico completo.The doctor needs your complete medical history.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
A doctor's office during a check-up.
- ElenaHola Daniel, ¿tienes tu historial médico a mano?Hello Daniel, do you have your medical history handy?
- DanielSí, Elena, lo traigo en esta carpeta.Yes, Elena, I have it here in this folder.
- ElenaPerfecto, voy a revisarlo ahora mismo.Perfect, I am going to review it right now.
- DanielGracias, avísame si necesitas algo más.Thank you, let me know if you need anything else.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “medical history” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries médico, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
