| differential / differential diagnosis | ranked or unranked list of possible explanations |
| diagnosis | identified disease or condition |
| prognosis | expected course or outcome |
| workup | tests and evaluation used to investigate a problem |
| rule out | investigate and try to exclude; it does not mean already excluded |
| positive | a test found the target finding; whether that is good or bad depends on the test |
| negative | a test did not find the target finding; it does not always mean "healthy" |
| unremarkable | no notable abnormality was seen in the described area |
| history of | the patient previously had or has an established condition |
| status post | after a prior procedure or event, often abbreviated s/p in writing |
| acute | sudden/recent in onset or short in duration; not simply "very bad" |
| chronic | persisting over time; not simply "incurable" |
| idiopathic | cause is unknown |
| iatrogenic | caused by medical care or a medical intervention |
| contraindicated | a treatment/test should generally not be used in that situation because of risk |