holism
holism Lexical Profile
holism Game Scores & Validity
• noun
In medicine and healthcare, the treating of the whole person, taking into account mental, emotional, and social factors rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.
"The clinic embraces medical holism by combining conventional physical therapy with nutritional counseling and stress management."
The philosophical or scientific theory that parts of a whole are in intimate interconnection, such that they cannot exist or be understood independently of the whole, which is regarded as greater than the sum of its parts.
"In ecology, a commitment to holism requires researchers to study the entire ecosystem rather than isolating individual species."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in 1926 by South African statesman and philosopher Jan Smuts in his book 'Holism and Evolution', derived from the Ancient Greek 'holos' meaning 'all, whole, entire' plus the suffix '-ism'.