Meanings
plural hydrotherapies
- countableuncountablealternative medicineAny of various techniques that use water, either externally or internally, for the treatment of disease and for the soothing of pain.
Radio-active baths are said to act favourably in a sexual direction. So too with arsenical springs, cold water treatment, and hydrotherapy.
1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 1561 more example
At the bedside, healers practiced a variety of Western fads such as hydrotherapy, which utilized harmless but ineffectual water cures for many ailments [...]
2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 68
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe internal and external use of water in the treatment of disease
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*wed-
- Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
- Proto-Hellenic*údōr
- Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
- Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
- Englishhydro-
- Proto-Indo-European*treb-der.?
- Ancient Greekθερᾰ́πων (therắpōn)
- Ancient Greekθεραπεύω (therapeúō)
- Ancient Greekθεραπεία (therapeía)
- New Latintherapīa
- Englishtherapy
- Englishhydrotherapy
Translations
Catalan hidroteràpia
- hidroteràpiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Chinese Mandarin 水療 /水疗
- 水療 /水疗 (shuǐliáo)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Czech vodoléčba
- vodoléčbatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Dutch watertherapie
- watertherapietechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Esperanto hidroterapio
- hidroterapiotechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Finnish vesiterapia, vesihoito
- vesiterapiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- vesihoitotechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
French hydrothérapie
- hydrothérapietechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
German Hydrotherapie, Wasserheilkunde
- Hydrotherapietechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- Wasserheilkundetechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- Hydropathietechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Hebrew הידרותרפיה
- הידרותרפיהtechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Hungarian hidroterápia
- hidroterápiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Italian idroterapia
- idroterapiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Japanese 水療法, 水治療
- 水療法 (mizu ryōhō)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- 水治療 (mizu chiryō)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Polish wodolecznictwo, hydroterapia
- wodolecznictwotechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- hydroterapiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Portuguese hidroterapia
- hidroterapiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Russian гидротерапи́я, водолече́ние
- гидротерапи́я (gidroterapíja)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
- водолече́ние (vodolečénije)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Spanish hidroterapia
- hidroterapiatechnique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Thai วารีบำบัด
- วารีบำบัด (waa-rii-bam-bàt)technique that uses water for the treatment of disease
Cite this entry
hydrotherapy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrotherapy
“hydrotherapy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrotherapy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hydrotherapy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrotherapy.
Source: hydrotherapy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.