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.

---

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 )

---

treatment Idioms  

1. see red carpet (treatment).

---

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

"Treatment for IBS patients should focus on identifying the underlying causes and using the safest, evidence-based options available rather than relying on a single class of medications for long-term management," Rezaie said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 16, 2026

People in Brenchley, Matfield, Pembury, Lamberhurst and surrounding villages lost their supply on Thursday morning after the fault on a key main from Bewl Water Treatment Works, in East Sussex.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

But the families of Africans killed fighting for Russia get nothing, according to Tamara Kurushkina, an official at Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

The Emergency Treatment Unit was off limits to visitors and other patients, with the medical authorities setting up a separate ward for the Iranians.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

Beans, instead of being relieved that his arm was spared, said, “Let’s find him,” and trotted off after his own Treatment.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

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