Could you please explain where the "spa" concept comes from? What does it mean? I have heard two definitions: sante per aqua and salutem per aqua. -Cosette, via email
This is a question we have spent no small amount of time wrestling with ourselves. In our July/August 2008 issue, we asked a number of experts to weigh in and came up with the following answer:
Precisely when and how the term "spa" first came into use is still un-resolved. Spa historian Jonathan Paul De Vierville notes, "One possibility is that the word is an acronym created from three words-allegedly scrawled as graffiti on the walls of ancient Roman public baths-salude per aqua."
Though there are at least eight other renditions of the phrase (salus per aquum, sanitas per aquum, and sanitas per aquas are also common), all versions have roughly the same translation: "health through water." De Vierville adds that the Latin word spargere (to pour forth) may also be the source.
Spa, a Belgian town established in the 14th century, could also be the birthplace of the word. Derived from the regional term for fountain (espa), the town's name quickly became synonymous with the beneficial waters located there and, over time, with healing springs elsewhere.
Image of the Roman Baths in Bath, England - iStockphoto
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