Meanings
nounalternative medicine (countable and uncountable, plural alternative medicines)
plural alternative medicines
- countableuncountableAny of various nonscientific or pseudoscientific medical methods and practices used either in place of or in addition to conventional (scientific) medicine.
Unlike their conventional counterparts, practitioners of alternative medicine often excel at harnessing the placebo effect, says Dr Ernst.
2011 May 19, “Think yourself better”, in The Economist, →ISSN1 more example
“Such courses involve so-called 'complementary or alternative medicine' masquerading as, and sitting side-by-side with, evidence-based health-related science courses,” the letter said. It added that universities were risking their reputations by teaching courses like chiropractic, homeopathy, iridology and reflexology.
2012 May 5, Liz Gooch, “Australian Universities Defend Alternative-Medicine Teaching”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Afrikaans alternatiewe medikasie
- alternatiewe medikasieany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Arabic اَلطِّبّ الْبَدِيل
- اَلطِّبّ الْبَدِيل (aṭ-ṭibb al-badīl)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Basque medikuntza alternatibo
- medikuntza alternatiboany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Bengali বিকল্প চিকিৎসাবিজ্ঞান
- বিকল্প চিকিৎসাবিজ্ঞান (bikolpo cikitśabiggên)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Bulgarian алтернативна медицина
- алтернативна медицина (alternativna medicina)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Catalan medicina alternativa
- medicina alternativaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Chinese Mandarin 替代醫學 /替代医学
- 替代醫學 /替代医学 (tìdài yīxué)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Danish alternativ medicin, alternativ behandling
- alternativ medicinany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
- alternativ behandlingany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Dutch alternatieve geneeswijze
- alternatieve geneeswijzeany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Esperanto alternativa medicino
- alternativa medicinoany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Estonian alternatiivmeditsiin
- alternatiivmeditsiinany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Finnish vaihtoehtolääkintä, vaihtoehtolääketiede
- vaihtoehtolääkintäany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
- vaihtoehtolääketiedeany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
French médecine non conventionnelle, médecine alternative
- médecine non conventionnelleany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
- médecine alternativeany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
German Alternativmedizin
- Alternativmedizinany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Greek εναλλακτική ιατρική
- εναλλακτική ιατρική (enallaktikí iatrikí)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Hebrew רפואה אלטרנטיבית
- רפואה אלטרנטיביתany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Hindi वैकल्पिक चिकित्सा
- वैकल्पिक चिकित्सा (vaikalpik cikitsā)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Hungarian alternatív gyógymód
- alternatív gyógymódany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Indonesian pengobatan alternatif
- pengobatan alternatifany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Irish míochaine mhalartach
- míochaine mhalartachany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Italian medicina alternativa
- medicina alternativaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Japanese 代替医療
- 代替医療 (daitai iryō)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Korean 대체의학
- 대체의학 (daeche'uihak)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Lithuanian alternatyvioji medicina
- alternatyvioji medicinaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Malay perubatan alternatif
- perubatan alternatifany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Māori rongoā arokē
- rongoā arokēany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Norwegian alternativ behandling
- alternativ behandlingany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Persian پزشکی جایگزین
- پزشکی جایگزینany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Polish medycyna niekonwencjonalna, medycyna alternatywna
- medycyna niekonwencjonalnaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
- medycyna alternatywnaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Portuguese medicina alternativa
- medicina alternativaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Romanian medicină alternativă
- medicină alternativăany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Russian альтернати́вная медици́на, нетрадицио́нная медици́на
- альтернати́вная медици́на (alʹtɛrnatívnaja medicína)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
- нетрадицио́нная медици́на (netradiciónnaja medicína)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Slovak alternatívna medicína
- alternatívna medicínaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Spanish medicina alternativa
- medicina alternativaany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Swedish alternativmedicin
- alternativmedicinany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Thai การแพทย์ทางเลือก
- การแพทย์ทางเลือกany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Turkish alternatif tıp
- alternatif tıpany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Ukrainian альтернативна медицина
- альтернативна медицина (alʹternatyvna medycyna)any of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Welsh meddygaeth amgen
- meddygaeth amgenany of various medical methods and practices used in place of conventional medicine
Cite this entry
APA
alternative medicine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alternative%20medicine
MLA
“alternative medicine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alternative%20medicine. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alternative medicine,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alternative%20medicine.
Source: alternative medicine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.