The term
Therapeutae (plural) is Latin, from the Greek plural
Therapeutai (Θεραπευταί). The term therapeutes means one who is attendant to the gods although the term, and the related adjective
therapeutikos carry in later texts the meaning of attending to heal, or treating in a spiritual or medical sense. The Greek feminine plural
Therapeutrides (Θεραπευτρίδες) is sometimes encountered for their female members. The term therapeutae may occur in relation to followers of
Asclepius at Pergamon, and
therapeutai may also occur in relation to worshippers of
Sarapis in inscriptions, such as on
Delos.