Therapy
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Attempted remediation of a health problem following a diagnosis, usually synonymous with treatment. countable, uncountable
"inclined bed therapy"
- 2 (medicine) the act of caring for someone (as by medication or remedial training etc.) wordnet
- 3 Attempted remediation of a health problem following a diagnosis, usually synonymous with treatment.; Specifically, psychotherapy. countable, uncountable
"As a methodology, it provides a useful framework for evaluating the outcomes of therapy."
- 4 Healing power or quality. countable, uncountable
- 1 To treat with a therapy. rare, transitive
"As is the case for therapying ectopic ACTH production, very high serum cortisol levels necessitate adrenolytic therapy with o,p'DDD (mitotane), metopirone, or aminogluthetimide."
- 2 To undergo a therapy. intransitive, rare
"Therapy has almost eliminated violence, and people are divided into groups — the "therapied" and the "un-therapied.""
Example
More examples"A great many people were opposed to gene therapy in terms of ethics."
Etymology
From New Latin therapīa, from Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía, “service, medical treatment”), from θεραπεύω (therapeúō, “I serve, treat medically”) + -ία (-ía, suffix for forming abstract nouns).
Related phrases
More for "therapy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.