spa

/spɑ/

/spɑ/

Other forms: spas

A spa is a fancy hotel or resort, especially one that offers health and beauty treatments or is located near a natural mineral spring. If you like being pampered, you might treat yourself to a day at a spa.

You might go to a spa to get a massage and sit in a sauna, or to visit the naturally warm springs in Sonoma, California or Saratoga Springs, New York. The springs themselves are often called spas, and as a result even a Jacuzzi bathtub with underwater jets is sometimes referred to as a spa. The word comes from the town of Spa, Belgium, which has been known for its mineral springs since the 15th century.

Definitions of spa

1. noun

   a fashionable hotel usually in a resort area
   synonyms: resort hotel

   type of:

   hotel

   a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
2. noun

   a health resort near a spring or at the seaside
   synonyms: watering hole, watering place

   examples:

   Wiesbaden

   a city in western Germany; a spa since Roman times

   type of:

   playground, resort area, vacation spot

   an area where many people go for recreation
3. noun

   a place of business with equipment and facilities for exercising and improving physical fitness
   synonyms: health club, health spa

   types:

   fat farm

   a health spa that specializes in helping people lose weight

   type of:

   business establishment, place of business

   an establishment (a factory or an assembly plant or retail store or warehouse etc.) where business is conducted, goods are made or stored or processed or where services are rendered