folk medicine

See also: folk-medicine

English

WOTD – 9 August 2021

Etymology

From folk (“believed or transmitted by the common people; not academically correct or rigorous”) +‎ medicine.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfəʊk ˈmɛd(ɪ)s(ɪ)n/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌfoʊk ˈmɛdəs(ə)n/
Hyphenation: folk me‧di‧cine

Noun

folk medicine (countable and uncountable, plural folk medicines)

(uncountable) Traditional medical practices developed and used by non-physicians, typically involving customary homespun techniques and medicinal remedies derived from native plants.
Synonym: indigenous medicine

Holonyms: complementary medicine, integrative medicine, traditional medicine
- 1935 September 2, “Medicine: Chemotherapy”, in Time, retrieved 8 June 2014:
  He learned medicine and surgery "from executioners, bathkeepers, gypsies, midwives, and fortune tellers and incidentally acquired an unusual knowledge of folk-medicine and a permanent taste for low company."
- 2008 March 11, Eric Nagourney, “Nostrums: Aromatherapy Rarely Stands Up to Testing”, in New York Times, retrieved 8 June 2014:
  Aromatherapy is a big business, and its roots run deep in folk medicine.
(countable) A particular medicinal remedy used in such traditional medical practices.
- 1996 August 2, Liz Hunt, “Flower-power remedy proves equal of anti-depressant drugs”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 8 June 2014:
  A folk medicine traditionally used to treat depression is as effective as standard anti-depressant drugs and has fewer side-effects, according to a new study.

Alternative forms

folk-medicine

Related terms

Translations

traditional medical practices developed and used by non-physicians

Amharic: ባሕላዊ መድኃኒት (baḥlawi mädḫanit)
Arabic: طب تقليدي
Assamese: লোকচিকিৎসা (lüksikitxa)
Asturian: medicina tradicional f
Azerbaijani: xalq təbabəti
Basque: medikuntza tradizional
Belarusian: народная медыцына f (naródnaja mjedycyna)
Bengali: ঐতিহ্যবাহী চিকিৎসাবিজ্ঞান (ōitijjhobahi cikitśabiggên)
Bulgarian: традиционна медицина f (tradicionna medicina)
Catalan: medicina tradicional f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 传统医学 (chuántǒng yīxué)
Danish: folkemedicin c
Dutch: volksgeneeskunde (nl) f
Esperanto: popolmedicino
Estonian: rahvameditsiin
Finnish: kansanparannus (fi), kansanlääkintä
French: médecine traditionnelle f
Galician: medicina tradicional f
German: Volksmedizin f
Hausa: maganin gargajiya
Hebrew: רפואה מסורתית
Hindi: पारम्परिक चिकित्सा (pāramparik cikitsā)
Hungarian: népi gyógyászat
Indonesian: obat tradisional (id)
Ingush: халкъа лорал (xalqʼa loral)
Italian: medicina popolare f
Japanese: 伝統医学
Kannada: ಜನಪದ ವೈದ್ಯ (janapada vaidya)
Korean: 전통의학 (jeontong'uihak)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: پزیشکی کۆن (pzîşkî kon)
Kyrgyz: элдик медицина (eldik meditsina)
Lithuanian: liaudies medicina f
Malagasy: fitsaboana nentim-paharazana
Malay: perubatan tradisional
Malayalam: നാട്ടുവൈദ്യം (ml) (nāṭṭuvaidyaṁ)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: folkemedisin m

Nynorsk: folkemedisin m
Persian: طب سنتی (fa)
Polish: medycyna tradycyjna f
Portuguese: medicina tradicional m
Punjabi: ਰਵਾਇਤੀ ਦਵਾਈਆਂ (ravāitī davāīā̃)
Romanian: medicină populară f
Russian: наро́дная медици́на (ru) f (naródnaja medicína)
Serbo-Croatian: tradicijska medicina f
Sinhalese: සාම්ප්‍රදායික වෛද්‍යක්‍රම (sāmpradāyika waidyakrama)
Slovak: ľudové liečiteľstvo n
Slovene: tradicionalna medicina f
Spanish: medicina tradicional f
Turkish: geleneksel tıp (tr)
Ukrainian: народна медицина f (narodna medycyna)
Uzbek: xalq tabobati
Vietnamese: y học cổ truyền
Western Panjabi: روایتی دوائیاں

particular medicinal remedy used in such traditional medical practices

Finnish: perinnelääke
Portuguese: mezinha (pt) f, mitombo m (Mozambique)