Heal, Whole and Health Are One Family
Healing is the process of becoming well again. The word is a cousin of whole: to heal is to make whole once more.
Healing is the process by which injury or illness is repaired. The old English root ties three words together: *heal*, *whole* and *health* all descend from the same idea of being complete and unbroken. To heal is to restore wholeness, which is exactly what tissue does.
- Recovery from injury or illness. *The healing took months.*
- The act of curing. *Traditional healing.*
- Becoming better emotionally. *Healing after a loss.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | heal | Wounds heal slowly. |
| Past | healed | It has healed. |
| -ing | healing | A healing process. |
| Person | healer | A traditional healer. |
| Related | health | In good health. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The cut healed without a scar.Heal takes no object here.
- Time is a great healer.A proverb about grief.
- The bone is healing well.Progressive, for an ongoing process.
Stages of wound healing
- Haemostasis — bleeding stops
- Inflammation — the area swells and is cleaned
- Proliferation — new tissue is built
- Remodelling — the repair is strengthened over months
- Scarring — the permanent record of the repair
From Old English *hælan*, to make whole, from *hal*, whole — which also gives *hale* in *hale and hearty*, and the greeting *hail*.
Heal or cure?
Curing removes a disease. Healing is the body's repair process, and it can happen with or without a cure.
Heel, heal or he'll?
Heal is to get better, heel is the back of the foot, and he'll is he will. They sound identical.