therapy

American  

[ther-uh-pee] / ˈθɛr ə pi /

noun

• therapies
  plural

1. 

   the treatment of disease or disorders, as by some remedial, rehabilitating, or curative process.

   speech therapy.

2. a curative power or quality.

3. psychotherapy.

4. any act, hobby, task, program, etc., that relieves tension.

---

therapy British  

/ ˈθɛrəpɪ /

noun

1. 1. the treatment of physical, mental, or social disorders or disease

   2. ( in combination )

      physiotherapy

      electrotherapy

---

therapy Cultural  

1. Treatment intended to cure or alleviate an illness or injury, whether physical or mental.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• self-therapy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• therapies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of therapy

1840–50; < New Latin therapīa < Greek therapeía healing (akin to therápōn attendant)

Explanation

Therapy is the act of caring for someone, or the method of caring. If you have a rare disease, your doctor's therapy will hopefully cure you. Therapy comes from the Greek θεραπεία, for "healing." If someone tells you she's "in therapy," she's probably talking about a psychological kind of healing. But if she's getting physical therapy, then she's getting help with a bone or muscle problem. If someone suggests an experimental therapy, that's a mode of treatment that's new. Sometimes if something non-medical makes you feel better, we call it a kind of therapy. You might like chocolate therapy, for example.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

therapy therapies

The book feels like a therapy session in which the patient will talk about anyone other than himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Her journey back to the spotlight has entailed intense physical therapy, vocal rehabilitation and medication, she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Bunnie said she had been willing to put the work in, noting that she had advocated for them to attend couple’s therapy.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

When I was at medical school, which was a long time ago, I remember learning a little bit about gene therapy and it being talked about then.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

My dad had always said therapy was for people who are weak, so I was surprised when he didn’t argue with my mom for saying I should go—but I sure did.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

Avoiding surgical implantation could also help decrease procedure-related risks and shorten recovery times, potentially expanding access to these therapies.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Treatments can involve mood-stabilising medication like lithium and talking therapies, helping people go long periods without symptoms.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Eventually, such knowledge might allow doctors to determine which therapies are most likely to help individual patients, potentially reducing the amount of trial and error involved in treatment.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

Viatris expects the acquisition of Pacira to position it as a leader in non-opioid pain-management therapies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

But it was disturbing for those trying to use cell culture to develop medical therapies.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

Related Words

• analysis
• cure
• healing
• medicine
• remedy