Etymologically
Log in

terapia

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /te.raˈpi.a/[1]

Forms

terapia f (plural terapie)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin therapīa, a learned word of medicine, from Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía, “service; care, medical treatment”).[1][2][3][4] The Greek noun belongs to θεραπεύω (therapeúō, “to serve, take care of, treat”), derived from θεράπων (therápōn, “servant, attendant, squire”), a word of uncertain origin.[3][5][6] DELI notes that the Greek service could be rendered to the gods in worship, to people by medical treatment, and to plants by growing them.[3] The same word is French thérapie and Spanish terapia.[4]

The related terapeutica “the science of treatment” is older in Italian: Nocentini dates it before 1577, from Late Latin therapeutica, which first appears in Cassiodorus.[4][3] terapeutico dates from 1805.[3][4] The noun became a productive second element of learned compounds such as idroterapia and chemioterapia.[1][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini and GRADIT date the word to 1828.[4][8] Prati cites Leone (1828).[7] DELI's first records are from 1829: in Marchi's dictionary of learned words it is the branch of medicine that deals with the treatment of disease, and in Fantonetti it is the treatment itself.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Tommaseo–Bellini distinguished the two words: terapeutica for the treatment of diseases in general, terapia for the treatment of a given illness.[9] In the 20th century the word acquired many fixed phrases, such as terapia intensiva (intensive care), terapia d'urto (a massive initial dose) and terapia del dolore (pain management).[8][10][6]

In everyday use terapia now also stands for psicoterapia: essere in terapia is to be in therapy.[11][8][12] A figurative sense, a set of measures to remedy an unfavourable situation such as a state deficit, is also current.[8][6]

Timeline

  • Before 1577 – Terapeutica is recorded.[4]
  • 1805 – Terapeutico and terapeutica appear in D'Alberti's dictionary.[3]
  • 1828 – Terapia is first recorded.[4][8]
  • 1829 – Marchi and Fantonetti use terapia.[3]
  • 1940 – Terapeuta “therapist” is recorded.[4]
  • 1961 – Terapista is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (medicine) The treatment of a disease; the measures and remedies used to cure or prevent it: Il medico le ha prescritto una terapia a base di antibiotici.[8][10][11]
  2. (medicine) The branch of medicine concerned with treatment; terapeutica.[8][11][6]
  3. (colloquial) Psychotherapy: Da un anno va in terapia due volte alla settimana.[8][11][12]
  4. (figurative) A set of measures to remedy a negative situation: Il governo propone una terapia d'urto per l'economia.[8][6][12]

Word family

  • terapeutico
  • terapeutica
  • terapeuta
  • terapista
  • terapico
  • chemioterapia
  • fisioterapia
  • psicoterapia
  • idroterapia
  • cura
  • Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía)

Usage notes

Common phrases are terapia intensiva “intensive care”, terapia d'urto “aggressive initial treatment” (also figurative), terapia del dolore “pain therapy” and terapia di gruppo “group therapy”.[10][6][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3756
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  6. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 987
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana