acupuncture

UK/ˈæ.kjuˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃɜ//ˈæ.kjuˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃɝ/

acupuncture noun: the insertion of needles into the (living) tissue of the body affecting the Qi or energy along energetic pathways of the body called meridians. This modality is traditionally used as a form of internal medical treating all disease and illnesses, in Western countries it is widely used for the purposes of pain relief.

Noun

acupuncture (usually uncountable, plural acupunctures)

(usually) The insertion of needles into the (living) tissue of the body affecting the Qi or energy along energetic pathways of the body called meridians. This modality is traditionally used as a form of internal medical treating all disease and illnesses, in Western countries it is widely used for the purposes of pain relief.
- Chinese doctors at Chishan County Hospital in Shansi Province have used acupuncture on the scalp to cure a patient suffering from paralysis of the right limbs caused by inflammation of the brain’s blood vessels.1974 October 16, “Acupuncture”, in The Jerusalem Post, volume XLIV, number 14221, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4, column 2

Verb

acupuncture (third-person singular simple present acupunctures, present participle acupuncturing, simple past and past participle acupunctured)

(transitive) To treat with acupuncture.

acupuncture meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

acupuncture in Hindi

insertion of needles for remedial purposes: एक्यूपंक्चर ekyūpaṅkcar

acupuncture in Tamil

insertion of needles for remedial purposes: குத்தூசி மருத்துவம் kuttūci maruttuvam

acupuncture in Marathi

insertion of needles for remedial purposes: ॲक्युपंक्चर ĕkyupaṅkcar

acupuncture in Urdu

ایک چینی طَریقَہ عِلاج, سوزَن زَنی

More languagesFewer languages

acupuncture in Bengali: আকুপাংচার akupaṅcar
acupuncture in Telugu: ఆక్యుపంక్చర్ ākyupaṅkcar
acupuncture in Kannada: ಸೂಜಿ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆ sūji cikitse, ಸೂಜಿಮಾಂಜುಗೆ sūjimāñjuge
acupuncture in Punjabi: ਐਕਿਉਪੰਕਚਰ aikiupaṅkcar
acupuncture in Sinhala: කටු චිකිත්සාව kaṭu cikitsāwa, කටු වෙදකම kaṭu wedakama
acupuncture in Assamese: আকুপাংচাৰ akupaṅsar
acupuncture in Tagalog: akupungktura
acupuncture in Arabic: الوَخْز بِالْإِبْر al-waḵz bi-l-ʔibr
acupuncture in Malay: akupunktur
acupuncture in Indonesian: akupunktur, tusuk jarum
acupuncture in Persian: طب سوزنی tebb-e suzani
acupuncture in Thai: การฝังเข็ม gaan-fǎng-kěm, ฝังเข็ม fǎng-kěm
acupuncture in Vietnamese: châm cứu

Forms of acupuncture

Noun
plural	acupunctures
Verb
third-person singular present	acupunctures
present participle	acupuncturing
past participle	acupunctured
past	acupunctured

Origin of acupuncture

Learned borrowing from New Latin acūpūnctūra, from Latin acus + pūnctūra. First attested in 1684. By surface analysis, acu- + puncture.

Words formed from acupuncture

Questions about acupuncture

What does acupuncture mean?: Acupuncture means the insertion of needles into the (living) tissue of the body affecting the Qi or energy along energetic pathways of the body called meridians. This modality is traditionally used as a form of internal medical treating all disease and illnesses, in Western countries it is widely used for the purposes of pain relief.
What is acupuncture in Hindi?: Acupuncture in Hindi is एक्यूपंक्चर (ekyūpaṅkcar). See Acupuncture meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is acupuncture?: Acupuncture can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce acupuncture?: Acupuncture is pronounced /ˈæ.kjuˌpʌŋk.t͡ʃɜ/ (UK).
What is the plural of acupuncture?: The plural of acupuncture is acupunctures.

Words near acupuncture in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: acupuncture (page history and authors); acupuncture (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-acupuncture.ogg.

Cite this entry: “acupuncture.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acupuncture. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.