healer
n. countablen. a person who helps people get better from an illness or injury, often using natural or spiritual methods. You might use this word for someone who does not use traditional medicine.
n. a person who cures or treats illness and injury, particularly one who employs non-traditional, holistic, or spiritual methods. Often carries a connotation of alternative medicine or traditional folk practices.
She visited a traditional healer to help with her back pain.
Many people in the village still consult the local healer for herbal remedies before visiting a modern hospital.
The anthropologist spent years documenting how the community's spiritual healer integrated ancient rituals with basic first aid to maintain the health of the tribe.
From Middle English helere, the agent noun of heal; analysed as heal + -er. Cognate with Dutch heler (“healer”), German Heiler (“healer”), Icelandic heilari (“healer”).
Often used with modifiers like 'spiritual', 'traditional', or 'faith' to specify the method of treatment.