earth bath en · NOUN
Etymology
Sense 2: from earth + bathing. Widely understood to have been coined Scottish physician James Graham in the late 1780s or early 1790s. * Possibly coined earlier by Gerard van Swieten in 1765 in references to practices found in the Kingdom of Granada (writing "per balneum terrae," Latin for "bath of earth").
Meanings
- A mud bath.
- (historical) A bath or therapeutic treatment in which the body is buried or immersed in earth, as practiced in James Graham’s 18th-century "earth-bathing" therapy.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| earth baths | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| earthbath | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Earth bath | alternative | lexicographic |