NPO
5 synonyms for NPO, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Abbreviation — Nothing by mouth; an instruction that a patient must not eat or drink, usually before surgery or a procedure, or because swallowing is unsafe.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. abbreviation medical
Nothing by mouth; an instruction that a patient must not eat or drink, usually before surgery or a procedure, or because swallowing is unsafe.
“Keep the patient NPO from midnight before the operation.”
2. abbreviation
Non-profit organisation; a body that operates for a social, charitable or public purpose rather than to distribute profit to owners.
“The shelter is run by a local NPO with three paid staff.”
How to use NPO
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
The medical sense is standard in American hospital charting; the non-profit sense is common in accounting and grant writing.
Etymology
In the medical sense, an initialism of Latin nil per os, 'nothing through the mouth'.
Full origin of NPO →