What does chiropody mean?
Chiropody is the branch of healthcare concerned with the treatment of the feet, covering everything from routine nail cutting to the management of corns, calluses, verrucas, and other painful foot conditions. Practitioners of chiropody, known as chiropodists, traditionally serve a particularly important role in caring for older people and those with diabetes, whose feet require regular professional attention. The word derives from the Greek roots cheir ('hand') and pous, podos ('foot') — an odd combination reflecting its early history, when practitioners treated both hands and feet. Once standard throughout the English-speaking world, chiropody has gradually been superseded by the more precise term 'podiatry', which refers specifically to the feet. Today the word survives mainly in British usage and in the names of established clinics and hospital departments, carrying a slightly old-fashioned, traditional flavour.
nounThe professional treatment of the feet and their ailments, including the trimming of nails, removal of corns and calluses, and care of foot conditions; in modern usage largely synonymous with podiatry.
- The professional medical or cosmetic treatment of feet, especially the management of nails, corns, calluses, and other foot complaints.
"After years of walking miles each day, she finally booked an appointment at the chiropody clinic."
"The National Health Service cutbacks meant many elderly patients could no longer access free chiropody."
"She trained in chiropody before opening her own foot-care practice in Manchester."
Before 'podiatrist' caught on, anyone who fixed your corns was a chiropodist — a word literally built from the Greek for 'hand' and 'foot'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chiropody
Chiropody entered English in the late eighteenth century from French chiropodie, combining the Greek elements cheir ('hand') and pous, podos ('foot'). The pairing reflects the fact that early practitioners of the craft treated afflictions of both hands and feet, though foot care soon became dominant. It shares the cheir root with words such as chiropractic, chirography, and surgery (via Greek cheirourgia), and the podos root with podium and podiatry. In the twentieth century, the profession increasingly adopted 'podiatry' as its preferred name, leaving chiropody as a chiefly British and somewhat traditional synonym.
Related word forms
How chiropody is actually used
Chiropody is now chiefly British; in North America the term 'podiatry' has almost entirely displaced it, and even in Britain it is increasingly giving way to podiatry as the profession's official name.
Easily confused with chiropody
Chiropractic treats disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system by manual adjustment, whereas chiropody is the care of feet.