treatment

American  

[treet-muhnt] / ˈtrit mənt /

noun

1. an act or manner of treating.

   Synonyms:

   approach, conduct, management, handling

2. action or behavior toward a person, animal, etc.

3. management in the application of medicines, surgery, etc.

4. literary or artistic handling, especially with reference to style.

5. subjection to some agent or action.

6. Movies, Television. a preliminary outline of a film or teleplay laying out the key scenes, characters, and locales.

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treatment British  

/ ˈtriːtmənt /

noun

1. the application of medicines, surgery, psychotherapy, etc, to a patient or to a disease or symptom

2. the manner of handling or dealing with a person or thing, as in a literary or artistic work

3. the act, practice, or manner of treating

4. films an expansion of a script into sequence form, indicating camera angles, dialogue, etc

5. slang the usual manner of dealing with a particular type of person (esp in the phrase give someone the ( full ) treatment )

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treatment Idioms  

1. see red carpet (treatment).

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Other Word Forms

• nontreatment noun
• overtreatment noun
• posttreatment adjective
• self-treatment noun

Etymology

Origin of treatment

First recorded in 1550–60; treat + -ment

Explanation

Treatment has to do with how someone or something is managed or handled. Hopefully you get the royal treatment when you choose the deluxe pedicure treatment! You know how some people treat you with respect but others don't treat you so nicely? You can refer to how people act toward you as treatment. If a restaurant is known for rude treatment of customers, people will stop going there. Doctors also use the word treatment when they discuss a particular medical course of action — such as chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer. The root word is the Latin tractare, which originally meant "drag about," but came to mean "manage, handle, or deal with."

Example Sentences

While the ovarian cancer was diagnosed early, treatment needed to be aggressive and to happen quickly.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026

Exercise is widely recommended as a key part of treatment, but current guidelines often lack clear advice on which specific types work best for knee osteoarthritis.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026

But that motivation is intended to be forgotten—it’s not politics but corruption that shares center stage with the series’ revenge elements, gunfights and atmospheric treatment of the city.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

The rest of the hyperscalers didn’t receive the same treatment.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026

The treatment could take up to two years—much longer than the treatment for regular TB—and the side effects were often painful for patients.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• analysis
• cure
• hospitalization
• medication
• medicine
• operation
• prescription
• regimen
• remedy
• surgery
• therapy