Other forms: hygienists
A hygienist is somebody trained in cleaning and preventive care. See the hygienist, a dental hygienist, the hygienist's appointment.
The dental kind is the common one and does the scaling and polishing a dentist does not, and in many places you can now book one directly. The work is preventive, which is why it is cheaper than everything it avoids.
1nounhygienistSomebody trained in cleaning and preventive care.
“The hygienist cleaned my teeth and told me to floss more often.”
hygienist is a professional.
Proto-Indo-European
*gʷeyh₃-
Ancient Greek
ὑγιεινή (τέχνη)
French
hygiène
English
hygiene
English, today
hygienist
Built from
From hygiene + -ist. hygiene comes from French hygiène, from Ancient Greek ὑγιεινή (τέχνη) literally “art of health”, from ὑγιεινός (“of health, good for the health, wholesome, sound, healthy”), from ὑγιής (“healthy, sound”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA