Etymology

-ectomy

Today it means: The surgical removal of. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἐκτομή (ektomḗ) ← Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ← Proto-Hellenic *eks
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁eǵʰs
  3. Proto-Hellenic*eks
  4. Ancient Greekἐκ (ek)
  5. Ancient Greekἐκ- (ek-)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*temh₁-
  7. Ancient Greekτέμνω (témnō)
  8. Ancient Greekἐκτέμνω (ektémnō)
  9. Ancient Greekἐκτομή (ektomḗ)
  10. English today-ectomy

From Ancient Greek ἐκτομή (ektomḗ, “a cutting out of”), from ἐκτέμνω (ektémnō, “to cut out”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”).

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἐκτομή all →

dactylectomy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.