The word of Homeopathy is formed from two Greek words “Homoeo” meaning “similar” and “Pathos” meaning “suffering”. In other words, the basic concept of Homeopathy in medical treatment is “Like cures like”. Around the year 400 BC, the father of medicine Hippocrates (460 ~ 377 BC) had already mentioned, “By similar things a disease is produced and through the application of the like it is cured.”
But then it had been a long time that this concept of medical treatment had not been brought into attention. Until the 16th century, the German doctor Paracelsus (AD 1493 ~ 1541) proposed a similar treatment theory. He said, “… and that you bring together there the same anatomic of herbs and the same anatomic of diseases into an order. The simile gives understanding to healing, according to which you should treat .” Paracelsus’s proposal is to match the color and the appearance of the medication with the therapeutic target. For example, since the color of celandine juice is similar to human bile, it is used to treat hepatobiliary diseases. Although his observation of the above treatment was proved to work out, his proposed theory was found to be too superficial to be accepted by the medical profession. Until 1790, the theory of “Like cures like ” was rediscovered from the ancient publications by a German doctor known as Dr. Christian Frederich Samuel Hahnemann (AD 1755 ~ 1843). After years of research and experiments, he finally established the theory of this medical treatment, and also invented the treatment method of using diluted doses. He named this medication treatment as Homeopathy which acted as a great contrast to Western Medicine (Allopathy).
References:
1.M. B. Panos, Jane Heimlich, Homeopathic Medicine at Home, Chapter 1: What is Homeopathy, p. 9-12, J. P. Tarcher Inc., Los Angeles, 1980.