Definition of "hydropathy" [hy•drop•a•thy]

• Internal and external use of water as a therapeutic treatment for all forms of disease. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Meanwhile, the average townfolk turned to fixing themselves as well, trying everything from religion to vegetarianism to hydropathy—the last of which required cold water immersions, foot baths, douches, and the like."
• "She was a single mother, and she was exploring all sorts of homeopathy, hydropathy, all those things that people did in those days to try to get well."
• "John Roebling was a believer in hydropathy, the therapeutic use of water."