θεραπεία

Forms

θερᾰπείᾱ (therapeíā) f (genitive θερᾰπείᾱς); first declension^[1] Ionic θεραπηίη (also θεραπείη in Hippocrates).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek θεραπεύω (therapeúō, “to serve; to treat”) + -ία (-ía).^[1][3][4] The verb comes from θεράπων (therápōn, “attendant”), a word Beekes considers Pre-Greek.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the 5th century BC, in Euripides of service paid to the gods and in Thucydides of paying court to someone.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is service: worship of the gods, respect for parents, devotion to a lover, and court paid to the powerful, which could turn into flattery.^[3][2] Care for oneself or others led to care of the sick, and Antiphon and the Hippocratic writers use it of medical or surgical treatment, as Plato does of cures by cautery.^[3][2] It also meant the nurture of children, the training of animals, the cultivation of land, the upkeep of a house and, concretely, adornment, and a body of servants.^[3]

In the Koine papyri and the New Testament it is treatment and healing, and also the household servants of a master.^[6] Medieval Greek kept it, and Modern Greek θεραπεία (therapeía), “treatment, cure”, is a learned form of it.^[7][8] Through Modern Latin therapia it gave English therapy in 1846.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it of worship, Thucydides of courting favour and of care of the sick.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writers use it of treating a hand or a foot.^[2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of medical cures and of the care of body and soul.^[2][3]
• 2nd century BC – A Tebtunis papyrus has a man in the shrine of Isis “for treatment”.^[6]
• 1st century AD – Luke uses it of healing.^[6]
• 1846 – English borrows therapy through Modern Latin.^[9]
• Modern Greek – θεραπεία (therapeía) is a learned form of the ancient word.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Service paid to the gods, worship; respect for parents.^[3][2]
2. Attention paid to gain favour; courting, flattery.^[3][2]
3. Care of oneself or others.^[3]
4. (medicine) Medical treatment, cure.^[3][2]
5. Nurture of children; training of animals; cultivation of plants and land.^[3]
6. Upkeep of a house or property; adornment.^[3]
7. (collective) Servants, attendants; a household.^[6][3]

Related words

• θεραπεύω (therapeúō)
• θεράπων (therápōn)
• English therapy

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
7. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com