Meanings
plural cauteries
- uncountableusuallymedicineThe use of either extreme heat or extreme cold to either cut or seal body tissue.
Modern doctors nod benignly at some of the remedies and principles in Bald's Leechbook, but none has a good word to say for bloodletting - nor for cautery, the other medieval method of balancing the humours.
1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 129 - uncountableusuallymedicineA device used for cutting or sealing body tissue.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan instrument or substance used to destroy tissue for medical reasons (e.g., removal of a wart) by burning it with a hot iron or an electric current or a caustic or by freezing it
nounthe act of coagulating blood and destroying tissue with a hot iron or caustic agent or by freezing
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincauterium“branding iron”
- Englishcautery
From Latin cauterium (“branding iron”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech kauterizace, kauter
- kauterizaceprocess of cutting or sealing body tissue with heat or cold
- kauterdevice used for cutting or sealing body tissue
French cautérisation, cautère
- cautérisationprocess of cutting or sealing body tissue with heat or cold
- cautèredevice used for cutting or sealing body tissue
Italian cauterio, bottone
- cauteriodevice used for cutting or sealing body tissue
- bottonedevice used for cutting or sealing body tissue
Russian прижига́ние
- прижига́ние (prižigánije)process of cutting or sealing body tissue with heat or cold
Turkish dağ
- dağprocess of cutting or sealing body tissue with heat or cold
Cite this entry
cautery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautery
“cautery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautery. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cautery,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cautery.
Source: cautery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.