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heliotherapy

American  
[hee-lee-oh-ther-uh-pee] / ˌhi li oʊˈθɛr ə pi /

noun

  1. treatment of disease by means of sunlight.


heliotherapy British  
/ ˌhiːlɪəʊˈθɛrəpɪ /

noun

  1. the therapeutic use of sunlight

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of heliotherapy

First recorded in 1885–90; helio- + therapy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At the time, the medical community believed prolonged exposure to the sun, or heliotherapy, to be the best treatment for the two strains of tuberculosis most commonly found in children.

From Washington Times

Some doctors thought alpine air was the reason TB patients fared better, but others believed in “heliotherapy.”

From New York Times

The design of the home was meant to fulfill requirements of heliotherapy based on work by Dr. Nils Finsen, the 1903 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine.

From Scientific American

It has been found that tuberculous lesions tend to undergo cure when the infected tissues are exposed to the rays of the sun—heliotherapy—therefore whenever practicable this therapeutic measure should be had recourse to.

From Project Gutenberg

The operative surgical quality but that he was reluctant to shed human blood even when the end justified the means, preferring, in their natural order, heliotherapy, psychophysicotherapeutics, osteopathic surgery.

From Project Gutenberg