bdellatomy

B3D2E1L1L1A1T1O1M3Y4

noun

The snipping off the tail of a leech engaged in sucking human blood, in order to let the blood run out of it and so increase its powers of drawing blood.

OriginAncient Greek βδέλλᾰ →
Scrabble 18
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Meanings

nounbdellatomy (uncountable)
  1. archaicuncountableThe snipping off the tail of a leech engaged in sucking human blood, in order to let the blood run out of it and so increase its powers of drawing blood.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekβδέλλᾰ“leech”
  2. Englishbdellatomy

Irregularly formed as Ancient Greek βδέλλᾰ (bdéllă, “leech”) + -tomy (from -τομία (-tomía, “a cutting”); from τέμνω (témnō, “I cut”); the etymological spelling is bdellotomy.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bdellatomy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bdellatomy

MLA

“bdellatomy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bdellatomy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bdellatomy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bdellatomy.

Source: bdellatomy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.