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allopathy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Allopathie, allo- +‎ -pathy, originally a pejorative term.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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allopathy (countable and uncountable, plural allopathies)

  1. (uncountable, originally) A system of heroic medicine that treats symptoms with substances that produce the opposite effect.
  2. (countable) Conventional Western medicine; a method or treatment therein.
    Synonym: allopathic medicine

Usage notes

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  • Originally, this indicated solely treatment according to the "law of opposites" rather than the homeopathic "law of similars"; it is now principally used to distinguish conventional medicine from homeopathy (USA, UK, EU), especially in the literature of homeopathy.
  • In the United States, the term is sometimes used to distinguish MDs from DOs (osteopathic physicians), usually in discussions of medical education.
  • In India, used principally to distinguish "Western medicine" from Ayurveda, especially when comparing treatments and drugs.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ James C. Whorton (2004) Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 18:
    One form of verbal warfare used in retaliation by irregulars was the word “allopathy.” Coined two hundred years ago by Samuel Hahnemann […] and was intended, among other things, to indicate that regular doctors used methods that were unrelated to the disharmony produced by disease and thus were harmful to their patients.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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