TREATMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does treatment mean? 

• TREATMENT (noun)
  The noun TREATMENT has 4 senses:

1. care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury)

2. the management of someone or something

3. a manner of dealing with something artistically

4. an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic

  Familiarity information: TREATMENT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TREATMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Care provided to improve a situation (especially medical procedures or applications that are intended to relieve illness or injury)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

intervention; treatment

Hypernyms ("treatment" is a kind of...):

aid; attention; care; tending (the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something)

Meronyms (parts of "treatment"):

curative; cure; remedy; therapeutic (a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "treatment"):

massage (kneading and rubbing parts of the body to increase circulation and promote relaxation)

rest-cure (rest as a medical treatment for stress or anxiety etc.)

hydropathy; hydrotherapy (the internal and external use of water in the treatment of disease)

autogenic therapy; autogenic training; autogenics (training patients in self-induced relaxation)

acupressure; G-Jo; shiatsu (treatment of symptoms by applying pressure with the fingers to specific pressure points on the body)

acupuncture; stylostixis (treatment of pain or disease by inserting the tips of needles at specific points on the skin)

osteoclasis (treatment of a skeletal deformity by intentionally fracturing a bone)

osteopathy (therapy based on the assumption that restoring health is best accomplished by manipulating the skeleton and muscles)

orthoptics (treatment of defects of binocular vision (such as strabismus and amblyopia) by nonsurgical measures (especially by exercises to strengthen the eye muscles))

orthodontic treatment (dental treatment that corrects irregularities of the teeth or of the relation of the teeth to surrounding anatomy; treatment is usually by braces or mechanical aids)

naprapathy (a drugless method of treatment based on the belief that disease symptoms arise from problems with ligaments and connective tissues)

naturopathy (a method of treating disease using food and exercise and heat to assist the natural healing process)

fomentation (application of warm wet coverings to a part of the body to relieve pain and inflammation)

chiropractic (a method of treatment that manipulates body structures (especially the spine) to relieve low back pain or even headache or high blood pressure)

detoxification (a treatment for addiction to drugs or alcohol intended to remove the physiological effects of the addictive substances)

modality (a method of therapy that involves physical or electrical therapeutic treatment)

medical aid; medical care (professional treatment for illness or injury)

Derivation:

treat (provide treatment for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The management of someone or something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

handling; treatment

Context example:

the right to equal treatment in the criminal justice system

Hypernyms ("treatment" is a kind of...):

direction; management (the act of managing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "treatment"):

bioremediation (the act of treating waste or pollutants by the use of microorganisms (as bacteria) that can break down the undesirable substances)

dealing (method or manner of conduct in relation to others)

Derivation:

treat (subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A manner of dealing with something artistically

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

his treatment of space borrows from Italian architecture

Hypernyms ("treatment" is a kind of...):

artistic style; idiom (the style of a particular artist or school or movement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

discourse; discussion; treatment

Context example:

his treatment of the race question is badly biased

Hypernyms ("treatment" is a kind of...):

communicating; communication (the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "treatment"):

detail (extended treatment of particulars)

dilation (a lengthy discussion (spoken or written) on a particular topic)

consideration (a discussion of a topic (as in a meeting))

talk (discussion; ('talk about' is a less formal alternative for 'discussion of'))

elaboration; enlargement; expansion (a discussion that provides additional information)

Derivation:

treat (act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression)

 Context examples 

It includes the drugs doxorubicin hydrochloride (Adriamycin) and cyclophosphamide, followed by treatment with paclitaxel (Taxol) and trastuzumab (Herceptin).

(AC-T-T, NCI Dictionary)

I asked him whether he had reason, so far, to be satisfied with his friend Heep's treatment of him?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Patient rights: Do you have the right to refuse treatment?

(Medical Ethics, NIH)

But we must first suppose Isabella to have had a heart to lose—consequently to have been a very different creature; and, in that case, she would have met with very different treatment.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

His warm regard, his kind expressions, his confidential treatment, touched her strongly.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The science of dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of disease.

(Medical Science, NCI Thesaurus)

Also used for the treatment of Kaposi's Sarcoma

(ABV Regimen, NCI Thesaurus)

They were angry because of the ill treatment they had received and the unjust load.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There is some indication that a love relationship or pregnancy may be on your mind, but that seems less likely. (Near this new moon is not the time for an IVF treatment.)

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“One indeed came who set thee free, and he is now near thee again; but how have you used him? Ought he to have had such treatment from thee?”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)