"restoration to health," Old English hæling, verbal noun from heal (v.). Figurative sense of "restoration of wholeness" is from early 13c.; meaning "touch that cures" is from 1670s.
Entries linking to healing
heal v.
Old English hælan "cure; save; make whole, sound and well," from Proto-Germanic *hailjan (source also of Old Saxon helian, Old Norse heila, Old Frisian hela, Dutch helen, German heilen, Gothic ga-hailjan "to heal, cure"), literally "to make whole" (from PIE *kailo- "whole;" see health). Intransitive sense from late 14c. Related: Healed; healing.