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Medical - Medical: Pharmaceuticals / laboratory | | English term or phrase: specimen and sample, whats the difference in a lab? | Swedish term or phrase: specimen and sample, whats the difference in a lab?
what is the actual difference between the words specimen and sample in a medical laboratory?
Could the test equipment in the lab also be called sample material?
Is the connection like this:
Specimen = the actual stuff, like blood and bodily fluids.
Sample material = the equipment it is on, like in a test tube or on a tissue for example |
| | | English translation:No, they are both "the actual stuff" | Explanation:
There is not much difference between the two word, but they both refer to the material, not the equipment.
Specimen:
# an example regarded as typical of its class
# a bit of tissue or blood or urine that is taken for diagnostic purposes; "they collected a urine specimen for urinalysis"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Sample:
In general, a sample is a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount of that thing(s). The things could be countable objects such as individual items available as units for sale, or a material not countable as individual items. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sample_(material) |
| Selected response from:
  Jack Doughty
Local time: 03:03
| Grading comment Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Summary of reference entries provided | | liz askew |
| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +5