noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˌkiːməʊˈθɛɹəpi/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K IY2 M OW0 TH EH1 R AH0 P IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Any chemical treatment intended to be therapeutic with respect to a disease state.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
chemical treatment to kill or halt the replication and/or spread of cancerous cells in a patient.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: most common usage
Topics: medicine, oncology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the use of chemical agents to treat or control disease (or mental illness)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: therapy
Narrower terms: chrysotherapy
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵhew- Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă) Ancient Greek χῠ́μᾰ (khŭ́mă) Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh2 Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)bor. Arabic الْكِيمِيَاء (al-kīmiyāʔ)bor. Medieval Latin alchēmia ▲ Ancient Greek χυμείᾱ (khumeíā)influ. New Latin chēmīader. English chemo- Proto-Indo-European *treb-der.? Ancient Greek θερᾰ́πων (therắpōn) Ancient Greek -εύς (-eús) Ancient Greek -εύω (-eúō) Ancient Greek θεραπεύω (therapeúō) ▲ Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía)bor. New Latin therapīabor. English therapy English chemotherapy From chemo- + therapy.
Across languages
Translations
53 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
քիմիաթերապիա
(kʻimiatʻerapia)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Azerbaijani:
kimyaterapiya
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Catalan:
quimioteràpia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Chinese Mandarin:
化療 /化疗
(huàliáo)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Chinese Mandarin:
化學療法 /化学疗法
(huàxué liáofǎ)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Dutch:
chemokuur
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Dutch:
chemotherapie
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Dutch:
chemo
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Esperanto:
kemiterapio
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Finnish:
kemoterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
French:
chimiothérapie
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Galician:
quimioterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
German:
Chemotherapie
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Greek:
χημειοθεραπεία
(chimeiotherapeía)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Indonesian:
kemoterapi
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Italian:
chemioterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Japanese:
化学療法
(kagaku ryōhō)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Kazakh:
химиялық емдеу
(ximiälyq emdeu)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Macedonian:
хемотерапија
(hemoterapija)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Polish:
chemioterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Portuguese:
quimioterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Russian:
химиотерапи́я
(ximioterapíja)
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Slovak:
chemoterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Spanish:
quimioterapia
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Turkish:
kimyasal tedavi
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Turkish:
ilaç tedavisi
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Turkish:
kemoterapi
— therapeutic chemical treatment
Catalan:
quimioteràpia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Chinese Mandarin:
化學療法 /化学疗法
(huàxué liáofǎ)
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Chinese Mandarin:
化療 /化疗
(huàliáo)
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Czech:
chemoterapie
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Dutch:
chemokuur
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Dutch:
chemotherapie
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Esperanto:
kemiterapio
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Finnish:
kemoterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
French:
chimiothérapie
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Galician:
quimioterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
German:
Chemotherapie
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Hungarian:
kemoterápia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Indonesian:
kemoterapi
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Italian:
chemioterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Persian:
شیمیدرمانی
(šimi-darmâni)
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Polish:
chemioterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Portuguese:
quimioterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Russian:
химиотерапи́я
(ximioterapíja)
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Spanish:
quimioterapia
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Swahili:
kemotherapi
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Swahili:
tibakemikali
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Swedish:
cellgiftsbehandling
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Swedish:
kemoterapi
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Turkish:
kimyasal tedavi
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Turkish:
kemoterapi
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
Vietnamese:
hoá trị
— chemical treatment to kill or halt cancer
