English term
United Kingdom
experienced and well qualified linguist
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: Spanish to English, English, Spanish, and 3 more.
diagnostic
Do diagnostics provide further information, details or history as reasons which lead to the decision to name a medical condition?
Are there any other meanings and uses of the term, diagnostics, for instance diagnostic testing?
Is it specific only to medicine?
I'm interested to read about diagnostic testing in education, science or electronics.
Sep 1, 2023 12:49: Clauwolf changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): Katalin Horváth McClure, Jennifer Levey, Clauwolf
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Responses
Spain
DrNeil TechTrans, Precision & Clarity
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, English
"diagnostics" with an S is a noun, without an S, it's an adjective.
Are you asking about "diagnostics" with an "s" or the adjective "diagnostic" without an "S"? Can you give some examples.
In answer to your Qs:
No.
Diagnostic tests do, yes.
Yes (you answered your own Q).
No, not only medicine - diagnostics in computing for example, it's used in lots of fields.
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Katalin Horváth McClure
40 mins
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Thanks Katalin
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Yvonne Gallagher
4 hrs
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Thanks Yvonne
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philgoddard
: These read like questions from someone who's learning English, but Lisa lists it as her native language.
4 hrs
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Wouldn't be the first, wouldn't be the last, and thanks Phil./I see what you mean, lots of examples around of unnatural sentences from supposed natives. They get found out by the good agencies soon enough and form part of the race downwards.
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United States
Expert: high-tech, software, engineering
Native in: Hungarian 
Works in: English to Hungarian, Japanese to English, Hungarian to English, and 3 more.
Google is your friend
Search for "diagnostic testing" (enclosed in quotes as shown here). The search results will likely answer all your questions. If you scroll down to the bottom of the results page, you will find links to further search for the meaning of "diagnostic testing" in various contexts, including those you mentioned (electronics, education).
Discussion
Errors in translation, esp. in the medical field, can cost lives.
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/diagnostic
So it seems you are questioning the correctness of that translation.
I don't speak French, however it seems you are perhaps confused by a case of "false friends".
"False cousins or false friends (faux amis in French) are words that look very similar in two languages, but mean different things. This leads to misunderstanding. English and French have strong historical links."
"diagnostic" in French and in English are two different things.
Google Translate gives these two examples:
a diagnosis of Crohn's disease was made
un diagnostic de maladie de Crohn a été posé
"diagnosis" in English is a noun and translated into French as "diagnostic" (also a noun). But "diagnostic" in English is an adjective, as others explained.
"Diagnostics is a method of testing a computer hardware device or software program to ensure its working order. This testing is performed before a computer or computer related product is released to the public."
"A diagnostic program (test mode) is an automatic computer program sequence that determines the operational status within the software, hardware or any combination thereof in a component, a system or a network of systems."
"Electronic circuit diagnosis is the process of identifying the components or connections that are responsible for the malfunction of defective printed circuit board so that corrective action can be taken both to repair the board and improve the process." Further searches on google show diagnostic tests for cars which are in place with modern cars where diagnostic tests function alongside a car's computer system or computerized and digital component. Specialized software functions to run those tests.
'Diagnostic questions are short and focused on a single idea (closed questions perhaps). Diagnostic tests, at times similar to formative tests, take place in various formats at various times throughout a course of study. Diagnostic test results inform both teacher and pupil about what progress has been made, what the pupil knows already and what the pupil needs to know in the future. Summative or cumulative assessments take place at the end of an academic course of study.'
https://www.stem.org.uk/sites/default/files/pages/downloads/...
English is listed as my native language, which I learned formally in primary school first of all. I studied French formally in secondary school and at university with Spanish. Later I lived, studied and worked abroad for over 2 years. Since then I've been continuing to learn more English since it can get confused with foreign language intervention and translation.