homeopathy

noun

ho·​me·​op·​a·​thy ˌhō-mē-ˈä-pə-thē  ˌhä- 

: a system of alternative medicine that treats a disease especially by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in larger amounts produce symptoms in healthy persons similar to those of the disease : homeopathic medicine

Examples of homeopathy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, Schuck seeks treatment in a certain kind of homeopathy. — Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 13 Feb. 2025

Death rates were lower not because homeopathy worked but because the placebo effect – combined with not poisoning patients – was more effective than the medicine of the day. — Phil Starks, The Conversation, 21 Apr. 2026

Through the early 20th century, people sought out homeopathy, osteopathy, naturopathy, water cures, and chiropractors. — Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024

By guiding Luna’s guardian to adopt a holistic approach — including dietary adjustments, homeopathy and energetic therapies — Luna began to heal. — Allison Palmer, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Homöopathie, from homöo- homeo- + -pathie -pathy, after earlier homöopathisch homeopathic

Note: Introduced by Samuel Hahnemann, perhaps first in his Reine Arzneimittellehre, 3. Theil (Dresden, 1817), p. iii ff.

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for homeopathy

• arthropathy
• nephropathy
• neuropathy
• adenopathy
• osteopathy
• lymphadenopathy

Medical Definition

homeopathy

noun

ho·​me·​op·​a·​thy

variants or British homoeopathy

ˌhō-mē-ˈäp-ə-thē  ˌhäm-ē- 

plural homeopathies or British homoeopathies

: a system of alternative medicine that treats a disease especially by the administration of minute doses of a remedy that would in larger amounts produce symptoms in healthy persons similar to those of the disease : homeopathic medicine