About treatment "regimen" or "regime" or "regiment", which of the following is incorrect?
A. Regime can mean "a mode or system of rule or government: e.g. a dictatorial regime"
B. Regmen can mean "a regulated course, as of diet, exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to attain some result"
C. Regiment is the past participle of both the verb form of regime or regimen
D. The three words orginated since the 14th century or afterwards, and appeared to have been modified through Latin to French to English
Answer: C
From nowdays usage, "regiment" means "Military. a unit of ground forces, consisting of two or more battalions or battle groups, a headquarters unit, and certain supporting units."
The above three words orginated in Latin and modified by French. They have once meant similar things with similar spellings, and for a long time "regime" is synonymous with "regimen", and, in archaic use, "regiment" could also mean "government".
For present time use, a lot of people are using "treatment regime" to mean "treatment regimen", and many people consider these words synonymous. However, strictly speaking, in modern English, regime usually means government, many a time an authoritarian and disapproving one. So unless you feel that your treatment "regime" is meant to be obeyed and complied with by order, you can then say you are prescribing a "treatment regime"! More appropriately, "treatment regimen" means a "regulated course, as of diet, exercise, or manner of living, intended to preserve or restore health or to attain some result." However, a lot of people do not agree with the above, and indeed, they have once had similar meanings.
Note also that the three words are pronounced differently.
Language is dynamic. We don’t know if after many many years of such mixed use, "treatment regimen" and "treatment regime" will have exactly the same meaning, but definitely nowadays "regiment" means something very different. There are a lot of discussions on the world wide web on this issue.
Reference
1. Cambridge Dictionaries Online
2. Dictionary.com
3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
4. Hoi Blogoi
5. Regime Regimen Regiment
6. Constant Content
7. The Editor’s Desk