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.

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therapy British  

/ ˈθɛrəpɪ /

noun

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

   2. ( in combination )

      physiotherapy

      electrotherapy

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therapy Cultural  

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

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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

“I think this combination will be the most tolerable therapy that we’ve developed yet for the degree of weight loss that we expect to achieve.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

UniQure says it still sees a path to regulatory approval for the drug candidate, AMT-130, even as the experimental gene therapy for Huntington’s disease falls hort in a recent study.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

Sticking with what she knows best, Kris continued her real estate retail therapy in the Hidden Hills area, this time with her daughter Khloe.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Supporters stress that psychedelic therapy is very different from recreational drug use.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

CBT stands for cognitive behavioral therapy, which sounds painful, but isn’t as awful as it sounds.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

If proven out, these experimental medications could ultimately improve people’s health while they rapidly lose weight on these therapies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

"If effective, e-PMP could become a vital new treatment option, particularly for women who wish to avoid repeated surgery or hormonal therapies, or who are planning a pregnancy."

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Other ways for bosses to support staff include ensuring access to treatments such as physiotherapy and talking therapies, he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Avoiding animal-derived materials can be important when developing therapies intended for human use because it may reduce potential safety and regulatory complications.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Karhidish psychologists, though lacking mindspeech and thus like, blind surgeons, were ingenious with drugs, hypnosis, spotshock, cryonic touch, and various mental therapies; I asked if these two psychopaths could not be cured.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• analysis
• cure
• healing
• medicine
• remedy