spa (redirected from spa baths)

Spa, commune (1991 pop. 10,140), Liège prov., E Belgium, in the Ardennes. Its therapeutic mineral springs and baths, frequented since the 16th cent., made it an internationally fashionable watering place. Its name became so well known that the word spa is used to designate any health resort. The town had its ultimate vogue in the 18th and 19th cent. At the Spa Conference (1920) the Allies accepted a German plan for the payment of war reparations.

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spa

Spring or resort with thermal or mineral water for drinking and bathing. The word derives from a Belgian town whose springs reputedly had curative powers. Mineral springs usually contain various salts, trace minerals, and gases; many are naturally carbonated. Most thermal springs (see hot spring) also contain minerals. Warm-water bathing aids relaxation (see hydrotherapy), and high salt or sulfur content helps some skin conditions. Drinking mineral water is believed to aid digestion, and waters with specific minerals are used for particular conditions.

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(Software Publishers Association, Washington, DC) In 1999, SPA merged with the IIA (Information Industry Association) to become the Software & Information Industry Association. See SIIA.